Yesterday I had a conversation with Love.
She was a lot shorter than I imagined. Less elegant. A slight-frame, lean build… a square-jaw and a great smile… Her skin was thick, but soft. Her voice was light and musical. Her sentences were symphonies.
She was calm, but confident. She paid attention to details. There was a naturalness about her… She didn’t think before she spoke, but somehow the words still seemed to make sense.
There was pain in her eyes – from loss and longing… travels and tribulations… But her gaze was pure… Wrinkles of concern swam across her forehead. Defeat dripped from her neck. Her scars were visible… apparent, but ambiguous.
She was battle-tested.
She told great stories. The kind that people drop everything to hear. The kind that turns a room into an altar… a crowd into a congregation… She spoke about distant lands and amazing adventures… unfamiliar faces but familiar feelings. She talked about heroes, and knights. And dragon slayers. She talked about losing hope and letting go of dreams…
She told of her own enemies: Fear and Insecurity. She explained how they always tried to hold her back… they always tried to cage her. Hate, she could deal with. He was much easier to find. He had a certain smell… Fear was hidden. Insecurity was invisible… She had suffered at their hands before…
She had a long memory, but lived in the moment. She could reminisce without recounting…. recall without reminding… She never sweated the small stuff, but always remembered the little things.
She was real.
She talked about her younger days. She wasn’t a straight-A student. She cut class sometimes. Started fights in the cafeteria. Got caught cheating once or twice… She loved languages. Spanish, Italian… French was her favorite… “je t’aime” et “mon coeur”…
Growing up, she’d often get confused with her sister, Lust. They looked similar, but Lust had a way hotter body…. and longer hair… They were both spontaneous and free, but Lust had a shorter attention span… she could never focus. Lust was always the life of the party. Lust passed out the cake and poured the champagne.
Love washed the dishes.
She said she’d been walking for years…. Been searching for decades. For what, she wasn’t exactly sure…. She was a natural wanderer. An explorer. She said there was something bigger out there… something magical. She couldn’t describe it… only feel it. She dreamed of it her whole life. And she was closer now… she could sense it.
She had no map. No GPS or navigation. Her iPhone was out of service. She just followed the signs… Looked out for clues. Listened. She moved fast, but tried not to run. Every time she sprinted, she slipped. This journey was about pace… about timing. She had to make sure the speed matched her stride.
She never hid from Danger… never turned away from Trouble. Struggle was her sacrifice. Problems were her passage…. She didn’t know how to back down. She welcomed obstacles. She cherished challenges. She could take on anything, anywhere, anytime.
Love was a fighter.
She had seen a lot. Time wasn’t always kind to her. Experience broke promises. Expectation told lies… She had bruises. Wounds. The bottoms of her feet were rough and tired. And at one point, she became bitter. She began to question the voyage. Uncertainty began to outweigh Passion.
She almost gave up. Almost called it quits. She found a safe place, at the edge of the desert, with a beautiful view of the night sky. She had just enough around her to get by… Survive….. But survival was lonely. Survival wasn’t living… The stars were stunning, but she had no one to share them with… Isolation wasn’t the answer.
So, she began again. Moving. Forward… She was wiser this time. Stronger. More focused. She could still feel Fear close, but he didn’t hold her captive… Caution didn’t constrain her. She was just more careful… She asked the right questions… Recognized the clear signals… Made quicker decisions… She knew better now…
Love was ready.
We talked for hours… the conversation ended too soon…
She left early. She wrote a note, and told me not to wait up. She’d find me again, when the time was right.
I didn’t get to say goodbye.
I’m glad… I didn’t want to.
Tap here to Spark with Kash on the #besomebody app.
written like a Love Guru 😉
best personified analogy I ever read bro!
last line gave me chills…
Thanks a lot bro, really appreciate it..
though i am definitely no Love Guru, you know that! lol
$
Kash,
Great post my friend…very well put. Do you give writing lessons? 🙂
Thanks Brett.. thanks for reading… Considering my writing usually happens after some bursts of emotion/energy at 3am, i dont think lessons would be very practical. 🙂
best advice is just write how you FEEL.
talk soon bro,
$
AMAZING!
Thank you. 🙂
$
Wow…i think i need her to visit me and remind me as well…we haven’t talked in a while
She’s coming soon, dont worry. 😉
$
A moving dialog. I wonder if next time Love will come to stay!
Thanks Dad… 🙂
and, yeah, me too lol… i figure she will stick around when the time is right. 🙂
$
WOW! February! YEs, Will my emoyions and thought beliefs lead me to love stating, what does it take, for me to focus in here??
The piece is beautiful, Mr.Shaikh! Reading it, I’m reminded vaguely of the “little prince” penned by Antoine de saint exupery. One of my favourites!
Thanks so much Pooja.
I haven’t read “Little Prince” but i am googling it as we speak. 😉 Looking forward to reading it.
thanks again!
$
Great! its the perfect book to “I browse. I skim. I flip through.” With pictures, mind you 🙂 Hope you enjoy it!
I LOVE this! Kash this was written so beautifully 🙂
THANK YOU Sabeen…
I hope all is well. 🙂
$
Glad you did not want to say goodbye. To be described her so beautifully, means that next time she visits she will stay…
Thank You
Thanks as always Samia. 🙂
I hope all is well.
$
Love this! I will share this — and I could not have read it at a better time. Thanks
Thanks so much Masha… I’m glad it caught you at the right time… Hope all is well! 🙂
$
I loved this! Beautifully written.
Thanks very much Keily. Thanks for reading. 🙂
$
Beautifully written and so insightful, Kash… I know you will have no trouble recognizing Love when you see her again. It seems like you’ve gotten to know and understand her pretty well! 🙂
As always Kash no lo pudiste haber escrito de mejor manera, when it comes to writing you are the BEST ;). Esto es justo de lo que hablamos el otro dia, lo lei en el momento adecuado, ahora aprendi que no podemos dejar que el miedo y la inseguridad nos limiten a decir lo que sentimos, a tomar riesgos y a perder oportunidades que la vida nos da. Ahora entiendo porque este post es tan popular, me hizo pensar que tal vez escribiendo encuentre lo que tanto busco.
Besos
Ps: no more wack excuses you see i read it 🙂
Kash, I am big believer that love can come to us at different times in life. Sometimes love comes to us when we are truly ready to be loved and give love. At other times love comes to us to remind us that not all “love” is real and here to stay. It is the latter of these that can bring us to our knees in tears and shout out to God and say, “why?” next comes the silence and it is Love that wipes away our tears and picks us up and moves us forward in life, one step at a time.
I always say that Love is the answer, that it is always my motive.
Thank you,
Elizabeth
Great job buddy! Exactly what some of us need today 🙂
Thanks so much Chris! Hope all is well with you. $
Priceless! simply astounding.. may love come and stay for good this time 🙂
Love seems to be hanging around longer than usual this time. 😉 – thanks again for reading, Kash
very poignant.
Thank you Daisy. 🙂
Amazing how much I could relate to everything so easily. Thanks for sharing this Kash!
Thanks Robby, appreciate you reading. It’s amazing how love – the pursuit, promise, and pain – affects us all in such a similar way. It’s the drug that hurts us and cures us… and when the time is right, it’s the potion that keeps us alive.
thanks again,
kash
Thanks for sharing, Robby. Glad you could relate… Love – the power and pain – is something we all have in common. 🙂
Kash
Super jazzed about getting that knwo-how.
believe me.! love is a sad emotion..leaves you broken and shattered every time..it disappears without a goodbye.!
No doubt..wonderfully written.!
Zr18,
Love and sadness often go hand-in-hand… but Love has so many sides! It can bring us to our knees and lift us to the sky. It’s painful, yet powerful… and when it’s right – the right time, right mind, right person – it’s magic. Love yourself and love will find you.
All the best,
Kash. #besomebody.
Oh boy! What a lovely lovely piece of writing ! Amazingly written… Love is surely Beautiful!
Thanks very much Gulwish. 🙂
Kash
Amazing and breath-taking! A clearly painted picture with beautiful words. Beyond a shadow of doubt! Marvellous!
Thanks so much Ayesha. I’m glad you enjoyed this… it’s my favorite piece, and spoken from my conflicts, connections and conversations with Love. 🙂
Best,
Kash
I wanted more after reading. Love love love this. Beautifully written
thanks very much, Niki. Means a lot… thank you!
kash
Kash, I enjoyed reading it so much that I just got done reading for the 5th time. Have a great day!!!
thanks very much Kris. I really appreciate it. 🙂
kash
Damn! Those words were beautiful Kash… don’t know how I skipped this post, glad I found it, I needed to hear this.
Thanks bro!
JP – just saw your comment myself… thank you as always brother! hope all is well. – Kash
Wow. Really wow. This is perfect. You’ve just described what a lot of people has gone and are going through. This is really wonderful. Thank you for such a beautiful piece 🙂
This… My dropped jaw and calm feeling after reading this just can’t be expressed any more accurately than this; Amazing.
Hope Love visits me again, I wanna see her face one more time
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a amusement account it. Look advanced to far brought agreeable from you!
However, how can we communicate?
You really make it seem so easy with your presentation but I find this
matter to be actually something that I think I would never understand.
It seems too complicated and extremely broad for me. I am
looking forward for your next post, I will try to get the hang of it!
So do you have her sister’s number? I tend to like hanging out with her.