In reaction to the Girls finale last night, i've been thinking about love. Love. The four letter word in our language that has the power to unite and destroy us. A friend I recently talked with said that every person has a "soul mate." She said that before birth we are connected with one other person, separated when we are born, and then we spend our lives searching for that other person. As a child (and to be honest, even now) I was haunted by the thought that my soul mate didn't exist. What if my soul mate died at birth? What if he got killed in a terrible car accident? As I watched the news, I always wondered who's soulmate died in a teen car wreck. I also took issue with this idea because it makes people obsess over the idea of a "soul mate", and focus on finding that soul mate. Yes, love is important. But life in general is often more important than finding the person you are supposed to love "forever". There have been so many times when couples break up, marriages collapse in divorce, and people re-marry. Yet, life usually seems to move on. This "soul mate" ideal isn't cutting it anymore.
Recently, I watched a TED talk featuring Elizabeth Gilbert (see below). She discusses the "creative spirit," or the ancient Greek idea that creativity is a spirit that passes through artists. This "spirit" explains why an artistic idea can become so enwrapping. This makes sense. When I have an idea for my creative writing, or when I think of a script idea, the thought consumes me until I have it on paper. When I write, I often cannot see anything else except the computer screen. It's an odd experience that borders on paranormal. As an artist, I follow this idea because it takes the attention away from me, and puts it instead on my work. If you think about all the world's major artists being joined by one unified creation spirit, art itself is more a message from that spirit then from individual humans.
Relating back to the idea of love, I believe that there is a "love spirit." It inhabits many people, some for their entire lives, and exists when certain people join together. However, it often fleets from then, and that explains why love can leave so suddenly. When you first fall in love, it is enwrapping. Everything else seems to dwindle away in importance and you are solely focused on your "other." Like the "creation spirit," this "love spirit" completely consumes people. It moves through people, ready to enter more relationships. We need to savor it for what it's worth, and look back on our times with it with happiness. To experience this spirit at least once should be a blessing. Love can be dangerous, but without it, what else can we do?
"For stony limits cannot hold love out, and what love can do, that dares love attempt" - Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
