Those Who Love

Those Who Love

by Sara Teasdale

Those who love the most, Do not talk of their love, Francesca, Guinevere, Deirdre, Iseult, Heloise, In the fragrant gardens of heaven Are silent, or speak if at all Of fragile inconsequent things. And a woman I used to know Who loved one man from her youth, Against the strength of the fates Fighting in somber pride Never spoke of this thing, But hearing his name by chance, A light would pass over her face.

Those who love and feel passion deeply are often unwilling to speak about it. Sometimes  feelings are so strong that finding the right words are useless. Others simply do not talk of their love, but rattle on about  inconsequential events and talk about things that don't matter.  Even if one could talk, sometimes the object of that love cannot even see the person who loves him/her. There is a story of a woman who played Mozart's Symphony #40  as the first piece of music for her son while pregnant.   There are songs that remind us of our first loves, our first dance and romance. When you hear the sound of your lover's name, do you feel a light pass over your face?   I am including Mozart's Symphony # 40 for you to hear as an example of a first love song. According to Leonard Bernstein, "It is hard to think of another composer who so perfectly marries form and passion." Tristan and Iseult

T

Proof of Love

“For one human being to love another human being: that is perhaps the most difficult task that has been given to us, the ultimate, the final problem and proof, the work for which all other work is merely preparation.” 
~ Rainer Maria Rilke


When you think about those people who loved you:  your parents, your friends, your brothers and sisters, your girlfriends/boyfriends, your mentors and companions, those great spiritual leaders, all of them had a willingness to sacrifice something of themselves.  You see it clearly when you give someone or somebody you love your money ( as when you pay for a wedding), your time  ( as when you walk the dog), your organ ( as in a transplant or through donation of blood for a person you will never see or know).
   There are  nuns who took  care of AIDS patients even at risk to their own health and their faith, which forbade homosexuality. They put their love of others over their own needs.
   Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project, writes about  a little girl named Mary Ann Long who developed a cancerous tumor of her face at age 3. It grew so big she was unable to eat. Here is an excerpt:

These nuns ran a free cancer home, where Mary Ann Long came to live at age 3. She had a cancerous tumor on her face; one eye had been removed. By the time she died, the tumor had grown so much that she couldn’t eat. She was only supposed to survive six months, but she lived to be twelve.
She must have been quite an extraordinary child. After her death, the nuns wrote an account of the little girl.

It’s an interesting book for several reasons, but what struck me most was the observation, “Apparently [Mary Ann] knew at that early age that the proof of real love is sacrifice.”
That sentence stopped me in my tracks. It’s another way of expressing one of my favorite happiness precepts – Reverdy’s “There is no love, there are only proofs of love” – but more blunt. I asked myself: am I showing my love through sacrifice?

   Another proof of  love is that it lasts for a thousand years or more, as Christina Perri sings in the song above.
  You will now see love in a new way. Those who have mastered this difficult task of  loving another person  demonstrate their ultimate love. This is the final proof.
 

When The Heart Speaks

"When the heart speaks, take good notes." ~ Judith Campbell

 I have been writing about love because  my heart is telling me things. Sometimes the words come moving fast, sometimes they are thoughtfully slow. Whenever the heart speaks, however, I hear a voice that flows into my deepest veins, like a friend.
 I think it is no accident that songwriters Paul McCartney and James Taylor, novelist Nicholas Sparks and James Patterson, poets e.e. cummings and Bob Dylan wrote many songs and stories about love. Their hearts continued to speak to them and they scribbled down everything that made sense.
   When love speaks, take good notes. We can only hope, not only that they are bestsellers or giant hit songs, but that they fill us with joy for years to come.
   Here is a movie based on one of James Patterson's books. It is filled with triumph and sadness,  but such is love.

Dancing

 I saw you dancing last night

on the roof of your house

all alone.

I felt your heart longing for the Friend.

I saw you whirling

beneath the soft bright rose

that hung from an invisible stem in the sky.

So I began to change into my best clothes

in hopes of joining you,

even though I live a thousand miles away.

And if you had spun like an immaculate sphere

just two more times,

then bowed again so sweetly to the east,

you would have found God and me

standing so near

and lifting you into our arms.

I saw you dancing last night

near the roof of this world

---Hafiz  

Have you ever wished to be next to a person who was far, far away? Even with modern technology to be able "to see" someone via internet, the poet imagines or even foresees that technology, but longs for something more mystical and physical.
When the distance between two lovers is great and you feel your "heart longing for the Friend", you need a physical connection.  How can you bridge that gap of "a thousand miles"?
   Change into your best clothes, carry a soft bright rose and say a prayer.
   
Let the song called "White Keys" by Chilly Gonzales transport you to that roof of her house. Listen to the music, then look up in the sky and join your beloved in a beautiful and invisible dance.

From the Beautiful Song Of The Week blog

Random Acts of Kindness Week

On a wall in London, grafitti artist Bansky painted a girl releasing a red heart-shaped balloon.
I feel she is offering this floating symbol of love to all of us. We do not have to catch the balloon to expereince love, we only have to be reminded that "true love" uplifts us.
The poet Osho said love floats by us just like a flower, we only have to take notice of it.

 The highest state of Love is not a relationship at all, it is simply a state of your Being. Just as trees are green, a lover is loving. They are not green for particular persons, it is not that when you come they become green. The flower goes on spreading it's fragrance whether anybody comes or not, whether anybody appreciates or not. The flower does not start releasing its fragrance when it sees that a great poet is coming by - 'Now this man will appreciate, now this man will be able to understand who I am.' And it does not close its doors when it sees that a stupid, idiotic person is passing there - insensitive, dull, a politician or something like that. It does not close itself - 'What is the point? Why cast pearls before swine?'. No, the flower goes on spreading fragrance. It is a state of being, not a relationship..."

    February 14th will be Valentine's Day. February 11 thru February 17 is Random Acts of Kindness (RAK)Week.. Practicing a "random act of kindness" is a good way to celebrate love. Here are some suggestions:

Monday, Feb 11—Smile at 10 strangers.

Tuesday, Feb 12—Buy something for the person in the line behind you.

Wednesday, Feb 13—Reach out to someone you haven't talked to in a while.

Thursday, Feb 14—Bring a treat to a neighbor or your co-workers.

Friday, Feb 15—Donate your time or money to a local charity.

Saturday, Feb 16—Cook a healthy meal.

Sunday, Feb 17—Let someone go in front of you in line.

One funeral service posted this announcement in their program:
Instead of sending flowers, perform a RAK in his memory.

  So to everyone this week, Happy Valentine's Day. Release more of your love in this world. To help celebrate, let's listen  to the heart and soul of Van Morrison.

What Would You Do for Love?

Love always poses questions.

Here are some of them:


What would you do for love? Would you leave your job? Would you take a risk?

In this short film, Paperman, (below), we are reminded that love can begin with no spoken words. The entire film is silent.

How then is love possible when neither person speaks?

“Love has its own communication. It's the language of the heart, while it has never been transcribed, has no alphabet, and can't be heard or spoken by voice, it is used by every human on the planet. It is written on our souls, scripted by the finger of God, and we can hear, understand, and speak it with perfection long before we open our eyes for the first time.” ― Charles Martin, Maggie: The Sequel to the Dead Don't Dance

 With love nothing is impossible!
         "In dreams and in love there are no impossibilities."
             ~Janos Arany 
When you find what you love, pursue it, no matter how difficult. The great bard William Shakespeare reminds us
"The course of true love never did run smooth."
                      

Love Affair With A Painting?

This pen & ink drawing by Picasso called "Tete de Femme" (Head of a Woman) was stolen by a NJ man from an art gallery in San Francisco, later recovered and the man arrested. The gallery owner  said the painting was no longer for sale because he had developed "a love affair with the piece".
   I started to wonder if there were any other love affairs over art and came across this reference from Wikipedia:

An Affair to Remember is a 1957 film starring Cary Grant "Nickie" and Deborah Kerr "Terry", and directed by Leo McCarey. It was distributed by 20th Century Fox.

The film is considered one of the most romantic of all time, according to the American Film Institute.

More of their love story

Here's a quick plot summary: After meeting on a cruise ship and engaged to other people, they agree to meet in New York City six months later at the top of the Empire State Building, if their love for each other is still strong.

The day of their rendezvous, Terry, in her haste to reach the Empire State Building, is struck down by a car while crossing a street. Gravely injured, she is rushed to the hospital. Meanwhile, Nickie, waiting for her at the observation deck at the top of the building, is unaware of the accident and, after many hours, finally concedes at midnight that she will not arrive, believing that she has rejected him.

After the accident Terry, now unable to walk, refuses to contact Nickie, wanting to conceal her disability. Instead, she finds work as a music teacher. Nickie has pursued his talent as a painter and has his work displayed by an old friend, an art shop owner. Six months after the accident, she sees Nickie with his former fiancee at the ballet, which she herself is attending with her former boyfriend. Nickie does not notice her condition because she is seated and only says hello as he passes her.

Nickie finally learns Terry's address and, on Christmas Eve, makes a surprise visit to her. Although he steers the conversation to make her explain her actions, Terry merely dodges the subject, never leaving the couch on which she sits. As he is leaving, Nickie mentions a painting that he had been working on when they originally met, and that it was just given away at the art shop to a woman who liked it but had no money. He is about to say that the woman was in a wheelchair when he pauses, suddenly suspecting why Terry has been sitting unmoving on the couch. He walks into her bedroom and sees his painting hanging on the wall, and a wheelchair concealed there. He now knows why she did not keep their appointment. The film ends with the two in a tight embrace, each realizing that the other's love endures. In closing, Terry says, "If you can paint, I can walk; anything can happen, don't you think?"

  The score of the title song is played memorably and beautifully by Yuko Ohigashi.

Those who feel the strongest love practice the art of love and love art. They simply see the artist as someone whose heart is pure.

Forward Love

The  horizontal arrow on our e-mail  lets us forward so many messages these days. Why not forward a little love poem via e-mail?

I held a Jewel in my fingers –

I held a Jewel in my fingers –

And went to sleep –

Love Poems of Emily Dickinson

The day was warm, and winds were prosy –

I said "'Twill keep" –

I woke – and chid my honest fingers,

The Gem was gone –

And now, an Amethyst remembrance

Is all I own –

                                                                                                   ~Emily Dickinson   (1861)

Though considered by many the greatest American female poet of the nineteenth century, Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) saw only a few of her 1,700 poems published in her lifetime, and those were published anonymously and without her permission. Her style considered unconventional and complex, she used short phrases set off by dashes. Her themes focused on intense extremes of life and death, grief and ecstasy, love and loneliness, religious salvation and sensual romance. Though she lived a secluded life in her home at Amherst, Massachusetts, her powerful poetry has touched generations of readers.
The Emily Dickinson stamp was issued in 1971.

Emily Dickinson stamp

 This little poem packs a solid punch to the aimless lover. The jewel we most desire is not made of diamonds or amethysts, it is the knowledge that the lover lying by our side will be there through the nights and the windy days. Emily seems to say hold on to what you love, less it become nothing but a memory. Lying in bed, she wonders if that memory is even more precious than any jewel. in her eyes, he is still a gem.
    In Amherst, Massachusetts where Emily Dickinson lived, I wonder if she would have enjoyed this simple soup (recipe below) when she was chilled to the bone by poetry. I made mine with rice milk. I also added 1 tablespoon of chopped celery to the origninal recipe.

FLORENTINE TOMATO BISQUE

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon finely chopped organic green onion
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves , crushed
1 cup packed shredded organic spinach leaves, stems removed
16 ounces of organic tomato sauce
12 ounces organic milk or substitute

Heat the oil in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and thyme and cook until the onion is tender.

Stir in the spinach and cook until it's wilted. Stir the tomato sauce and milk into the vegetables and heat through.

Enjoy!