Image: © Author’s image
Author: Anonymous
I wandered peacefully through the park. It was a pleasant day. The weather was perfect to contemplate the sweet limerence of lovers. I let my soul float in this magnificent field, in which the buds of love planted sparingly by passing lovers blossomed. Sometimes I would stop on one of its little buds; hesitant, they seemed afraid to let themselves grow up in the violent whirlwind that nature is. I approached a small red flower starting to peep out of the grass. It seemed confident, ready to face happiness and meanders. Every day I came to meet it and was filled with joy at the sight of the sumptuous poppy that the seed had become. Nevertheless, the next day, I never found it again. It had disappeared, carried away by the wind.
My gaze then settled on a frail root, fixed in the slit of a low wall. Its beauty was not equal to that of the poppy, yet its seed was amply filled with tenderness. The months passed and the small root was now an aromatic bush whose smell invaded my nostrils. I began to regain hope when one fine day in November, my bush had completely dried out, deprived of water and sunshine. True love does not exist, I thought to myself. Look at all these seeds full of good intentions and whose initial dose of love has evaporated over time. I then sat on a bench, tarnished by life, and contemplated, eyes in the void, the landscape surrounding me. Then a lady came to sit beside me.
“What’s going on, little one?”, she said in a serene voice.
“I don’t understand. The relationships so promising that I see around me, all end up fading away. I may have repeated and analyzed in detail when things started to go wrong, but I can’t find anything.”, I replied devastated.
“Did you observe the old willow tree by the lake? It is the very essence of unconditional love.”, explained the old lady.
“What do you mean? It does not glow. It lost all its leaves. Its trunk is dull and flayed.”, I wondered.
“One day you will meet the person with whom you will plant a seed that will become a tree as strong and majestic as this weeping willow.”, she continued.
It is only later that I grasp what the wise woman said. Love, feeling, emotion, the omnipresent sensation of love goes beyond what we are taught in storybooks or in society. It does not arrive on its white horse as if by magic. Do not expect it to be there to heal all your pains. Love is a process. Love is an art whose principles can only be mastered by a few. It is a balance, a sharing, a union, but it is above all the importance of freedom. Freedom of oneself and freedom of the other. Love grows when its protagonist acquires the knowledge of respect, listening and patience. The love duet can be in harmony as long as each one plays their own partition and does not interfere with the other’s. Love between two people is like the roots of the willow that unite to build a trunk, branches and leaves. It goes without saying that a root has no difficulty in blossoming on its own. It receives its own water and light. Unfortunately, very often the root is afraid of its individuality and thinks it needs the other to be fulfilled. It is only when it has become aware of its inner strength and knows its richness, that it can unite with the other and accomplish wonderful things. Love begins with self-love. Love is about letting the other grow up alone, to come back together even stronger.