On another plane altogether is the urbane, charming peace activist and journalist who I hung out with for a week in Paris. I’m pretty sure neither of us felt anything romantic in the air, but we had a certain chemistry and were intrigued by each others mind and worldview. He took me on wonderful adventures, across bridges and into his secret city, and stays in touch with weird and inspiring updates from his international agent of peace lifestyle.
Many of us seem to suffer from the malaise affecting so many people all over the world, having both a highly romantic and sadly disposable attitude to relationships. This one doesn’t work out? Next. And again. The other problem keeping so many people alone is our idealistic romantic expectations and not being able to deal with the reality of a whole other human being, in all our messy glorious unique beauty and strangeness. Every person is a mystery to another.
There are so many different shades and textures of love, I think it limits us if we’re only able to express them through a ‘romantic’ relationship. Of course there are myriad forms of love for our family and friends, but I believe the subtleties of those really deep soul connections that we make in the most unexpected places with completely random people can be lost in transition without a place for them to be at home.
We need to find spaces that allow for all kinds of love to exist, and take shape in our lives with people who may not become lovers or life partners, but can be inspiring, nurturing, and playful traveling companions. I am still learning this skill, and it’s a challenging journey to be on that demands a lot, but is infinitely enriching along the way.
Maybe these are the new continents we need to explore, the deeper feelings, and untoward emotional currents that run counter to rational plans and logical thoughts. Let yourself go into the murky uncharted waters of intuition and desire, and see where they lead you. Perhaps you will find unexpected clarity in these travels, once you get used to a different way of navigating. You could find a home in the world, with your heart the solid ground.
By Jodi Rose
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