Lilies in love…the natural arch of her body leaning unconsciously into mine, without restraint, nor with surrender, just leaning and taking comfort. Not a word need be uttered. Just a simple expression of the heart so sincere that never a word could describe.
This photo was taken in April 2010 at the Kruger Park Lodge in Mpumalanga, South Africa. (c) Cynically Jaded
Beyond the difficult path lies an ocean of joy, comfort and peace, just waiting for you to embrace it with all the love and devotion your heart yearns to express. But you must want it, or else it will forever elude you.
This photo was taken in Cape Town. It features a stranded cargo ship in the Table Bay area with an approaching storm. ~ September 2009 (c) Cynically Jaded
We judge by appearance because it requires a lot less energy and conviction, and it doesn’t make us vulnerable in the process. If we were to look too closely, we may acquire the responsibility of caring and that is far too daunting in a soul-less world. So let’s stare from afar, judge without knowledge, and hide the essence of ourselves so that we can maintain our defenses, existing until it’s too late to be discovered. And then dying regretting that we weren’t.
Cynically Jaded
What is it that stops us from affirming others while they’re alive, as opposed to waiting for their demise before singing their praises? Perhaps we’re afraid of being held accountable for our kind thoughts which denies us that ever convenient exit of ‘I knew it’ or ‘I told you so’ or ‘I should’ve known better’? Or maybe we lack the belief in our own virtues and would rather not have people peering so closely that they may see in us what we despise about ourselves?
Maybe it’s just that we’re so afraid of being hurt, that we’ll do anything to prevent others from getting too close, so that we don’t ever give them a view of how much they mean to us? That would give them far too much power to hurt or manipulate us. So instead, we create our defenses and do it so well that we end up believing that how we present ourselves to others is all we have to offer.
Heaven forbid we should live a romantic life. It is possible you know. To live a romantic life and still remain functional and practical about all life’s challenges. But it’s easier to fit in with the jaded crowds than to be true to ourselves, because the risk of failure is too great a source for potential embarrassment. POTENTIAL embarrassment. But the reality of the joy that we’ll experience if we lived romantically now will forever escape us because of our fear of embracing what we desire, lest it be stripped away from us in an untimely fashion.
So we set ourselves up for heartache and failure, all the while pretending to be comforted by our superficial success in worldly endeavours, ensuring that not another living soul will ever see the romantic fool in us for fear of being mocked or ridiculed for that which is closest to our hearts. So fear drives us to suppress the romance, and embellish the facade so that it becomes the reality of our existence, when in fact it’s the reality of our deception. Sad, isn’t it?
Gratitude is not simply a state of mind, but rather a state of being. Appreciating someone but restraining yourself from openly expressing it, verbally or 
otherwise, is of no use to them, and only sows the seeds of selfishness in your own heart. True appreciation would result in a willingness to acknowledge the impact that someone else’s efforts or contribution has on your life. Anything less cannot be appreciation. If we are willing to consume, then we must also be willing to contribute as well. Otherwise we introduce an imbalance in our lives that can never lead to healthy relationships. Don’t let your fear of allowing significant others into your personal space result in the destruction of beauty in your life.
 |
| Love’s sweet embrace |
How do I love thee?
I cannot count the ways.
Not the fluttering in my heart,
Nor the shortness in my breath,
Nor the lightness in my step,
Not even the sparkle in my eyes at the thought of you,
Or the elation in my soul at the sound of your sweet smile,
None of this will ever truly hint at how much I love thee.
Perhaps a hug,
No, an enshrouding embrace with a lingering caress of your lips
may shed some light into the depth of my love.
But even then, the truth of my love will still remain untold.
For I love thee like I’ve loved no other,
And I live for thee, which I’ve never done for another.
So you must love me,
And you must cherish me,
And you must hold me,
And never leave me.
For if you do, it will destroy me,
And neither you nor I will ever be blessed with such a love again.
Words often fail me when my heart is overwhelmed. It seems that only my arms could ever express my true yearning for her, and only my lips would be able to provide an indication of the passion that I feel when I think of her. She is, and always has been, from the moment I first laid eyes on her, my one and only true love. I thought I may have been in love before, I thought my heart had experienced love before, I thought that in my three lifetimes I must have experienced everything I needed to in matters of the heart…I was so wrong.
She has taken me to heights of happiness and absolute enchantment that I didn’t dream existed in this world. I thought that this kind of love and beauty only existed in fairytales, or the movies…but I know differently now. I live for her, I ache for her, I yearn for her, and I feel incomplete without her. I feel the warmth and beauty of her smile when I speak to her on the phone, even though I haven’t seen her for a lifetime. And despite not having any assurance that we could ever be anything more than we are now, I cannot live for anyone but her. She is my love, she is my angel, she is my all…and my everything. I live for her, and I love her.
I’m not quite sure which is worse, the insincerity of someone pretending to love, or that of someone pretending not to…the former still has the potential to create some good, because even if we develop a sense of belonging or a feeling of being needed based on a false premise, as long as its maintained, there’s good in it, and no matter how destructive the ultimate realisation of it being false, it can never eradicate the good that was already experienced while it was being experienced…whereas in the case of being insincere in pretending not to love someone, the good that already exists is being smothered, destroying both hope and souls in the process.
That would imply that the insincerity of someone pretending not to love is far more damaging and dangerous than the insincerity of any others…which, incidentally also implies that the ones we love are more dangerous than the ones we hate…or don’t love…so be careful who you give power to in your life…you could be signing your own death warrant in the process…that is, the death of your soul and any passion you have for life.
