Love defined
Last Friday I spent the morning with someone I hold dear...
I had the afternoon to myself; school work was the last thing on my mind.
I went downtown to Piedmont Park with love on my mind and my camera around my neck.
The park was being set up by vendors for an art event that weekend so there were not as many people as usual walking and hanging out in the grassy part of the park.
I had decided I was going to not only take pictures, but ask a question of those people I encountered. The couple sitting on a swinging bench were the first ones I came across. They were sitting close, his arms around her shoulders, and her hand on his knee. I did not take their picture by request but asked them what they thought Love was, what they thought of when I said Love. The woman's face went immediately to the man's with a grin and a soft kiss on the lips and she said "Passion."
This was not a surprise to me, the touch, the looks, and the intimacy between them made it obvious they were lovers and Passion was high.
I let them be and walked on.
The next person I came across was resting on a garden wall and it was apparent it was his bed for the day.
I sat a few feet away on the wall pulled my snack and water from my backpack and offered him a granola bar. We then talked about the weather. I then asked to take his picture and asked him my question about Love. His answer was "Hope". He thought Love offered hope for life. Hope in happiness, hope in the future.
I left him with my snack and a hand shake and walked on.
The big grassy center of the park was occupied by only one person and he was on a riding mower. I happened upon him during a break and he had his feet up. My walking up and asking him about Love took him by surprise, but he answered my question and let me take his picture. It turns out this man was in pain, love had recently hurt him so his answer was "Heartache". He hung his head and asked me why I wanted to know what he thought. I told him I thought his experience was important for himself and me to learn from.
I left him to his mowing and walked on.
I left the park and stumbled upon a couple of young men skate boarding. Not only did I get good pictures of them but they also answered my question. The young man had a surprising response. He said "Love is a 4 letter word no one knows how to use properly, and they over use it. Love is sacrifice." He then explained that he was doing things for Love he never thought he would do, sacrificing and compromising for someone he Loves.
I left these young men to their skating tricks and walked on.
I had started my day with someone I care about .. and was contemplative.
I had thought at different points in my life that I knew what Love was..
Love is not what you expect
Love is complicated
Love is in a look
Love is actions
Love is seeing and feeling warm
Love is seeing your purpose
The Bottom line is ..Love is more then a four letter word like the young man said... it is Living..
Love this!
ReplyDeleteIncredible as always. I still can't figure out if you are a better photographer or writer because you are gifted at both. To see the world through your eyes is to see the beauty in everything. Thank you for that glimpse.
ReplyDeleteAmazing. Profound. Love is something worth fighting for, you and your writing make me want to break all the rules for its truth.
ReplyDeleteMichelle, Love was contemplated as a "four" letter word in your blog, but the young skater suggests that it is an addiction as well. He suggests love compels one to do things that he would never dream of doing. And he says it with a smile on his face, as if, he blindly accepts that he is powerless to love's ever changing breeze. Were his words said through a smile of addiction, as his mind lusted for more of love’s saturating elixir? Or was his smile the recognition of a fool's curse that leaves one in a drunken state of bliss; parched as the vein popping smack that prepares itself to feed from the needle.
ReplyDeleteConsciences choice or addiction? What one chooses in the name of love is often buttressed aside the very morals and principals that bind us to our construction of self, which makes us feel dirtier than a sailor after visiting the local brothel. But then again love does cause us to scream "fuck yes" so maybe it is best described as a "four" letter word. One that hides in a deep dark place of our soul that only love can find, and is blurted out only after it twists us with the living intensity of the mechanics vice.
While love might be the curse of addiction or just a curse word to many; I have learned recently that love is “living” and without love we are not one with ourselves or others. Recently, I found my opportunity to be One. And now that I have found the "One" love has transformed me into the root that reaches below the tree’s canopy to hold his lover's hand…the bird that chirps here I am my love come find me….the running river stream that is warmed by his lover's rays...the bee covered in sweet nectar...and the boy who pretzels his blue blanket for warmth and protection....
But what I truly am because of love is a Man that has discovered the missing piece of his soul that makes him ONE.