(no subject)
Romance isn't dead afterall.I'm surprised to find that it is still in the backs of our minds and the bottom of our hearts.It's hidden somewhere between the lines--when we forget ourselves.Perhaps it keeps us alive and drives us though most of the time we don't realize it.
I just saw "Open Range" with Kevin Costner.I was reluctant to go see it cause looked like another cheesy Western style epic that men seem to be so fond of(my dad really wanted to see it).I must say though that I left the theater in an unexpected state.My dad and I both said to eachother"That was a really good movie"...and then silence as we walked to our cars.I couldn't keep it up--I started balling...and I looked at him and saw tears flowing from underneath his sunglasses.We were both struck by what the movie must have cued up inside of us.I think for me it started with the concept of loyalty.The whole movie is smothered in it.But in a way that's like good medicine for a girl starved for a sense of connection.There was an emotional point early on in the movie where I saw an old man a few seats down from me bend forward.He was trying to hide that he was crying and it really touched me.I found myself crying several times over things that seemed so simple--like a look that one character would give to another.I think it was the silent understanding between the characters that was so appealing.It's a knowingness that people don't take the time to cultivate nowadays.
It's hard to relate to the Dalai Lamas of the world.Most of the time it's such a stretch to have compassion that reaches out any further than my immediate family and friends.There is such a feeling of disconnection here in my world and seemingly in a lot of people in America.It's like we are looking for something we can't quite put our finger on.Our energy is easily depleted because we don't support eachother enough.We don't take the time to really listen to eachother and read the pauses.We think we have to spell everything out and we don't respect the mystery of life and being there for eachother.Financial independence is one thing...but where did we ever learn that we have to be emotionally independent--isn't this contrary to our very constitution???
I find that even the hardest shell is yearning to be cracked.Even the HARDEST one.Maybe especially that one.I met a wonderful girl this weekend.She was so immediately friendly and trusting with me.I'm so used to new people being stingy with their time and energy that I was a bit taken aback.But she was such a blessing.When I think of it...there are so many examples of the desire in people to be good to eachother and to believe in the best of things.
I have another friend who is the biggest romantic I have met in a while--and he is a MALE!!! I'm inspired by his vulnerablity and the fact that he isn't afraid to be his honest self...to admit that he loves a good movie about love and loyalty...he loves a novel about friendship and devotion.
You can't walk around afraid and unfeeling in this life.You have to open yourself to the full experience of EVERYthing...every person you meet.It's a hard core thing...but an intense life creates intense love and an abundance of energy I think.Anything less is a waste.
Sometimes when I sing a song I'm not feeling it....but I can always tell when I'm channeling real emotion...cause it rips me apart and builds me up new again.To sing a song from your gut is like plugging a light in and cahnging the way you view things.It takes courage to be involved...rather than just doing things for the sake of doing them...or for what others may think.
Maybe the feeling that always seems to be nostalgia that I feel isn't really that--maybe it is a knowingness inside that I deserve love in my life.I must remind myself to try and really SEE and HEAR people.To see and hear myself in them instead of setting them apart from me or judging them.
This line of thought makes me think of some lines from Kahlil Gibran's "The Prophet":
And a youth said, "Speak to us of Friendship."
And he answered, saying:
Your friend is your needs answered. He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving. And he is your board and your fireside. For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace.
When your friend speaks his mind you fear not the "nay" in your own mind, nor do you with hold the "aye." And when he is silent your heart ceases not to listen to his heart; For without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born and shared, with joy that is unclaimed. When you part from your friend, you grieve not; For that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain.
And let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit. For love that seeks aught but the disclosure of its own mystery is not love but a net cast forth: and only the unprofitable is caught.
And let your best be for your friend. If he must know the ebb of your tide, let him know its flood also. For what is your friend that you should seek him with hours to kill? Seek him always with hours to live. For it is his to fill your need, but not your emptiness. And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures.
For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.
I just saw "Open Range" with Kevin Costner.I was reluctant to go see it cause looked like another cheesy Western style epic that men seem to be so fond of(my dad really wanted to see it).I must say though that I left the theater in an unexpected state.My dad and I both said to eachother"That was a really good movie"...and then silence as we walked to our cars.I couldn't keep it up--I started balling...and I looked at him and saw tears flowing from underneath his sunglasses.We were both struck by what the movie must have cued up inside of us.I think for me it started with the concept of loyalty.The whole movie is smothered in it.But in a way that's like good medicine for a girl starved for a sense of connection.There was an emotional point early on in the movie where I saw an old man a few seats down from me bend forward.He was trying to hide that he was crying and it really touched me.I found myself crying several times over things that seemed so simple--like a look that one character would give to another.I think it was the silent understanding between the characters that was so appealing.It's a knowingness that people don't take the time to cultivate nowadays.
It's hard to relate to the Dalai Lamas of the world.Most of the time it's such a stretch to have compassion that reaches out any further than my immediate family and friends.There is such a feeling of disconnection here in my world and seemingly in a lot of people in America.It's like we are looking for something we can't quite put our finger on.Our energy is easily depleted because we don't support eachother enough.We don't take the time to really listen to eachother and read the pauses.We think we have to spell everything out and we don't respect the mystery of life and being there for eachother.Financial independence is one thing...but where did we ever learn that we have to be emotionally independent--isn't this contrary to our very constitution???
I find that even the hardest shell is yearning to be cracked.Even the HARDEST one.Maybe especially that one.I met a wonderful girl this weekend.She was so immediately friendly and trusting with me.I'm so used to new people being stingy with their time and energy that I was a bit taken aback.But she was such a blessing.When I think of it...there are so many examples of the desire in people to be good to eachother and to believe in the best of things.
I have another friend who is the biggest romantic I have met in a while--and he is a MALE!!! I'm inspired by his vulnerablity and the fact that he isn't afraid to be his honest self...to admit that he loves a good movie about love and loyalty...he loves a novel about friendship and devotion.
You can't walk around afraid and unfeeling in this life.You have to open yourself to the full experience of EVERYthing...every person you meet.It's a hard core thing...but an intense life creates intense love and an abundance of energy I think.Anything less is a waste.
Sometimes when I sing a song I'm not feeling it....but I can always tell when I'm channeling real emotion...cause it rips me apart and builds me up new again.To sing a song from your gut is like plugging a light in and cahnging the way you view things.It takes courage to be involved...rather than just doing things for the sake of doing them...or for what others may think.
Maybe the feeling that always seems to be nostalgia that I feel isn't really that--maybe it is a knowingness inside that I deserve love in my life.I must remind myself to try and really SEE and HEAR people.To see and hear myself in them instead of setting them apart from me or judging them.
This line of thought makes me think of some lines from Kahlil Gibran's "The Prophet":
And a youth said, "Speak to us of Friendship."
And he answered, saying:
Your friend is your needs answered. He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving. And he is your board and your fireside. For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace.
When your friend speaks his mind you fear not the "nay" in your own mind, nor do you with hold the "aye." And when he is silent your heart ceases not to listen to his heart; For without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born and shared, with joy that is unclaimed. When you part from your friend, you grieve not; For that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain.
And let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit. For love that seeks aught but the disclosure of its own mystery is not love but a net cast forth: and only the unprofitable is caught.
And let your best be for your friend. If he must know the ebb of your tide, let him know its flood also. For what is your friend that you should seek him with hours to kill? Seek him always with hours to live. For it is his to fill your need, but not your emptiness. And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures.
For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.