When I Married You...

Sometimes it is easier to write the things one means to say. Sometimes it cuts out the background noise and distractions. The following is a poem I threw together:

When I married you…

When I married you, I loved you like no other.
When I married you, I knew it was not the paper that bound us, but our commitment to each other.
When I married you, I knew there was no one else.
When I married you, I looked ahead and was happy.
When I married you, I looked behind and was satisfied.
When I married you, I knew you were my best friend.
When I married you, I married you forever.
When I married you, I said goodbye to single life with no regrets.
When I married you, I welcomed you with my whole being.
When I married you, I was confident that our love was strong.
When I married you, I knew you were not perfect, but that you were perfect for me.
When I married you, I knew I was not perfect, but wanted the ‘me’ I was (am) to be the perfection you sought.
When I married you, I said I do (and I have).
When I married you, I knew there would be some hard times.
When I married you, I knew there would be some sorrowful times.
When I married you, I believed we could get through anything together.
When I married you, I knew I would walk through fire for you.
When I married you, I knew life was short and wanted to share it with you.
When I married you, I knew I wanted to grow old with you.
When I married you, I felt your love and it made me strong.
When I married you, I knew there would be much laughter.
When I married you, I bound myself to all of you, even to the shadows in your heart's doorway.
When I married you, you lighted my shadows, wiped away the cobwebs in my heart and made room for it to grow.
When I married you, I wanted to share my world with you.
When I married you, I wanted to know your world, to walk in your secret garden.
When I married you, I knew life would never be the same.

I still feel the same today.

(2010)

While on the topic of marriage, I also want to share with you of my favorite songs by Francis Cabrel, Je T'aimais, Je T'aime, Je T'aimerai. It is a truly amazing song. For the lyrics, in French and an English translation see here.

Love your other like you will die tomorrow. If you do, you will have no regrets should it be so...

The Journey to Yourself

As I have mentioned before, I am doing some mental (and physical) house cleaning. Working through my own little crisis has opened me up to taking inventory of me and then reflecting on it. I think I am on to something. Regardless of what happens, at the end of this crisis I am sure I will be in a new place mentally (and definitely physically).

So here are my thoughts for the day:

Start becoming who you want to be. It may surprise you how long or short the journey will be. Restrictions are often self imposed due to fear of the unknown, fear of the possibility of other. Be prepared to proceed further than expected, be prepared to have set backs- both are helpful and teach patience, gratefulness and humility. I have come to understand how fleeting life, love, youth and friendship are, but that may be what makes them precious to us. Without the possibility of losing/gaining any of these, do they have value on their own? I am not so sure. I do not believe we savor moments as much as we do when we realize all can be lost. For example, once you decide to move to a new place, a new city, do you start to see the home you live, the city in which you reside in a different light? Do you start to appreciate the little quirks of the places, the specialness of every building, every encounter? I think the answer to this is a resounding yes.

I further believe that nothing we do matters and yet, all that we do matters- it just depends on the scope, the context, in which we are analyzing the action or thought. This is not a bad thing. In fact, I think it is good. It gives us a more balanced perspective on life and our role in it. It is all a journey. Sometimes we go it with someone, sometimes alone, but always with our past, present and future selves.

Remembering

What do you do you when life throws you a curve ball? Often we as human beings spend so much time in the drudgery of the everyday. We forget to pay attention to each and everyone around us that mean something- those that make us happy- those that make it worth getting up in the morning to continue on with our days which may include things we do not like. I am certain that most people do not like some aspect of their lives. There is always something that they can improve on, make better. But isn't that the point of life? To work toward those goals, the quintessential "good life"? We are here to support those we love, care about, cherish to help them become the better being to live the good life. This includes ourselves. Too often we forget about that person that we are supposed to love and cherish as well. We all need to do a better job at remembering not to forget to show someone we love how much we care. I must thank all of my friends and family that have taken the time to show me how much they love me.

"We can live without religion and meditation, but we cannot survive without human affection."- Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama


Happy Memorial day weekend everyone!