As I sit in nigh darkness, I contemplate the state of my life. And my love.
Of chasing dreams. And of the sacrifices that such pursuits entail.
Of passion and perseverance.
Or rather the surplus of passion and equivalent sparseness of the requisite perseverance.
Can passion alone sustain one’s dreams?
Without the luxury of foresight, how does one decide the path to tread on?
Is love invincible?
Can it sustain the throes of individual dreams?
Does love need proximity to thrive and flourish?
Or does it wither and die in the miles that separate it?
Does society and past stories dictate my life story?
Or do we make our own unique and true happy ending?
Are stereotypes stereotypes for a reason?
Or are we meant to shatter them and make them invalid and baseless?
Should I wait for the next big wave, and then get on my surf- board?
Or make do and enjoy the smaller, less- dangerous undulations.
Should I make hay while the sun shines?
Or save for a rainy day?
As the thoughts run amok.
And as eerie restiveness settles in, I reach for distractions.
Aah, yes. Like ever. It shall be a another man’s words. Another man’s thoughts.
A book.
As the heart’s aflutter and the mind tempestuous, I seek solace in the written word.
If Whuthering Heights is the food for my romantic soul, then The Prophet is grub for my philosophical psyche.
I leave you folks with some wise words. The words of Kahlil Gibran.
On Reason and Passion.
Your soul is oftentimes a battlefield, upon which your reason and your judgment wage war against your passion and your appetite.
Would that I could be the peacemaker in your soul, that I might turn the discord and the rivalry of your elements into oneness and melody.
But how shall I, unless you yourselves be also the peacemakers, nay, the lovers of all your elements?
Your reason and your passion are the rudder and the sails of your seafaring soul. If either your sails or your rudder be broken, you can but toss and drift, or else be held at a standstill in mid-seas.
For reason, ruling alone, is a force confining; and passion, unattended, is a flame that burns to its own destruction.
Therefore let your soul exalt your reason to the height of passion, that it may sing;
And let it direct your passion with reason, that your passion may live through its own daily resurrection, and like the phoenix rise above its own ashes.
I would have you consider your judgment and your appetite even as you would two loved guests in your house.
Surely you would not honour one guest above the other; for he who is more mindful of one loses the love and the faith of both.
On Marriage.
You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.
Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
Love one another, but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other’s cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.
Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow.
Aah! So few words. But so much implied.
Inner peace is a far off island at the moment, but at least the sea is calm now!
I hope you folks too derived your own meanings and poignancies from the words above.
Till next time..
Dr J.
