The Mirror (4)

Here are four quotes about a mirror. In their own way, they provide a reflection about love.


"The mirror is a useless invention. The only way to truly see yourself is through someone else's eyes."
         ~Voltaire

Artwork by Daniel Rozin

From Lewis Carroll's, Through The Looking Glass:
There was a book lying near Alice on the table, and she turned over the leaves, to find some part that she could read, ` -- for it's all in some language I don't know,' she said to herself.

It was like this.
YKCOWREBBAJ

sevot yhtils eht dna ,gillirb sawT`
ebaw eht ni elbmig dna eryg diD
,sevogorob eht erew ysmim llA
.ebargtuo shtar emom eht dnA

She puzzled over this for some time, but at last a bright thought struck her. `Why, it's a Looking-glass book, of course! And if I hold it up to a glass, the words will all go the right way again."

This was the poem that Alice read.

JABBERWOCKY.

And from Steve Jobs:

"For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something...almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose."

From the movie, Sherlock Holmes 2: A Game Of Shadows. [Dr.Watson sends a letter to his wife in code (cryptogram) which is explained thus:]
  "If the first letter of the note is a consonant, then the letter is the mirrored truth."
  In the letter, Watson tells her, "He doesn't love her". Which of course is the exact opposite of what he means since the letter "H" is a consonant. Sometimes, like Alice in Through the Looking Glass we need to recognize that love is a language about which we really don't always know.Voltaire's words remind one of the Amish tradition of not keeping any mirrors in their home because a mirror shows a lack of humility. 
Steve Jobs' message is a reminder that a mirror can be used for something other than narcissism. It can be a reminder to do what you love...everyday. 

Love's Still Flowin'

You Turn Me On, I’m a Radio

If you’re driving into town with a dark cloud above you
Dial in the number who’s bound to love you
Oh honey you turn me on, I’m a radio
I’m a country station, I’m a little bit corny
I’m a wildwood flower waving for you
Broadcasting tower waving for you
And I’m sending you out this signal here
I hope you can pick it up loud and clear
I know you don’t like weak women
You get bored so quick
And you don’t like strong women
’Cause they’re hip to your tricks
It’s been dirty for dirty down the line
But you know I come when you whistle
When you’re loving and kind
But if you’ve got too many doubts
If there’s no good reception for me then tune me out
’Cause honey, who needs the static, it hurts the head
And you wind up cracking
And the day goes dismal
From Breakfast Barney to the sign-off prayer
What a sorry face you get to wear
I’m going to tell you again now if you’re still listening there
If you’re driving into town with a dark cloud above you
Dial in the number who’s bound to love you
If you’re lying on the beach with the transistor goin’
Kick off the sandflies, honey, the love’s still flowin’
If your head says forget it but your heart’s still smokin’
Call me at the station, the lines are open

           ~  Joni Mitchell

 Love can wipe away the dark clouds above you and help you survive the storms of life. Love is like a river, it keeps flowing. Music, like love, is an invisible wave.  When we listen to the radio, we are transported by the artist/musician to another world.
  Let love be your music. Look around at the things in life waving toward you and for you. Love beckons us unknowingly through nature: when you're lying on the beach, when you watch the wildflowers sway, or look at seagulls laughing in the sky. 
   What are  those things in life that are waving for you?  When we hear a love song on the radio,  we have access to a 24-hour technology to communicate the love that people in all nations feel. Joni Mitchell is not a afraid to use that metaphor to express her desires in this love song. 

No Star Is Out Of Reach

   The capacity to love and form attachments and be part of the human family is one of the great rewards of life. Nevertheless, despair can also be part of our existence.
     At those times of despair, when fear and worry beset us,  love can heal us. This beautiful poem invites us to wait. Wait for the light of love.

The Peace of Wild Things

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

                  ~by Wendell Berry

   When we enjoy the love of another human being, the stars are within reach  and so is their light. Both the power of love and the grace of this world provide us with an enduring peace. 
    So I watch Celine Dion reach with her arms up to the sky. I will reach for those stars too. How about you? 

Untrodden Spaces

   When you carry love in your heart, it extends to all people.  Love enriches our lives and gives us strength to endure the hardships and disappointments in life. Love is the most complete nourishment we possess because it feeds our body, mind and spirit. There are no boundaries (Christian and Jew) and no divisions (Chinese and Caucasian).
    Osho, the Indian philosopher, mystic and guru said:

The more you love, the more you will find untrodden spaces where love goes on and on spreading around you like an aura.


This video below reminds us that the spirit of love lives in our heart.  In that untrodden space, you can always feel the other person's heart. This deep form of love is rare, but immortal.

Never Stop Loving You

I don't stop to count the number of STOP signs I see on my drive home from work, but now maybe will.  I will imagine this red sign of admonition transformed into an amorous rendition:
                                                      "Never Stop Loving".
I don't think love ever stops. Certainly it doesn't stop with the final heart beat.
  Can you imagine a great romance during the stop and go traffic of your commute? Why not?
Love is an ageless passion.
   In this video below you can see the love remembered in Doris Day's eyes.

 

Passion

When  you follow your passion, it lights you up. Those who watch you see a glow. Those who know you, understand the reason why. Some people discover their passion later in life. It doesn't matter.  If you are lucky enough to be able to express that passion, Sing it. Say it. Live it.

  Find what it is that lights you up. Oprah asks the question:
What sparks the light in you,  so that you, in your own way, can illuminate the world?

Wall of Love (Part 1)

In a world marked by violence and dominated by individualism, walls, like frontiers, are usually made to divide and to separate people and to protect them from one another. In downtown Paris, France, in a romantic garden,  there is a wall to write messages of love.
    LE MUR DES JE T'AIME (I love You : The Wall) is a link, a place of reconciliation, a mirror which reflects an image of love and peace.
With over 311 written declarations in 250 different languages, I love You : The Wall has become a meeting place for lovers.

The romantic garden of the Square Jehan Rictus Place des Abbesses in Paris Montmartre (I Love You Wall)

Flying

“Your hand opens and closes, opens and closes. If it were always a fist or always stretched open, you would be paralysed. Your deepest presence is in every small contracting and expanding, the two as beautifully balanced and coordinated as birds' wings.”
― Rumi, Essential Rumi

   

   True love emerges from a state of emotional balance. One of the purposes for example of having a partner is to maintain a loving equilibrium. It is no accident that love makes you feel like you can fly.
There is a harmony and an incredible lightness of being.
    Listen to these words of balance about love from Wayne Dyer (below). He says, "Love is what's left over when falling in love fades away..."

Wayne Dyer -speaks of love - Being in Balance