Suffering for Love

If you haven't seen the 2006 movie Tristan & Isolde, I highly recommend it. I found the story compelling on many different levels: Love, which makes life worth living; devotion, betrayal and guilt; the consequences of withholding information, good people torn apart because of secrets, and ultimately, forgiveness.

Love against obstacles may be a form of love that is unequaled as nothing easy is worth having and something attained after much struggle and hardship is usually cherished. I wonder if a heart that suffers for love is what makes the greatest love story of all? And if you've never encountered a challenge in a relationship, can you say you've really loved?

This brings me to distance.

The detachment between people weighs heavy on my mind. A number of people I know are struggling in their relationships and real intimacy is non-existent for them. How painful it must be to walk through life with someone in your life but without a warm hand to hold.

I'm one without answers but not without thoughts.

I find it far more pleasant to connect while reading passages of a book to ones partner than it is to sit and watch a story unfold on the screen. Intimacy is listening to and watching with interest as one turns a page and the other absorbs. Two people coming together and sharing is what makes a connection and the simplicity of it is not hard to achieve.

Don't spend money to go on a vacation in hopes of reclaiming what was. You only have to extend yourself and the bond will follow.

Don't deny your partner knowledge because silence and secrets only lead to painful consequences. After all, why suffer if you can do something about it? Some don't have a choice, others do.

Quotes
Love is a sweet tyranny, because the lover endureth his torments willingly.
- Proverb

Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit.
- Peter Ustinov