I found this compelling video thru a lifestyle blog I regularly follow.
Let me give you a short background why. Our subjects in point are Marina Abramovic and Ulay. They are performance artists who started an intense love affair back in 70s. I read their collaboration ignited the beginning of influential collaborative works for a decade. Don't worry, I will not bore you with art history. Suffice it to say, they are legendary. And their love story is equally epic. One for the books.
Why? Well, when they felt their relationship has already run its course they made this spiritual journey to end their relationship. Both of them walked the Great Wall of China for three months from two opposite ends to meet in the middle and end things. I imagine one last hug, one last kiss, one last handshake perhaps and said their farewells. That was in 1988.
Now fastforward to 2010, Abramovic performed the 'The Artist is Present' where she sits and communes in silence with the visitors across the table. She was immobile as you can see. But here's the surprise, Ulay suddenly came and sat in front of her.
Did you see how her eyes widened with joyous surprise? How she smile tenderly? How he shifted nervously in response and let out a sigh? How he shook his head, his eyes spoke of things only she understood? Then they both reached out and held hands. It wasn't their last handshake after all, was it?
Sidenote: He's wearing a pair of high cut Chucks! Cool! He looks old but in my opinion only a few men can ever, ever, pull off wearing a suit with Chucks! There's a rarity of them I tell you.
I saw this in one of the comments below the post I've read. I have to repost it here. I believe in those words. You never stop loving someone.
"..we never stop silently loving those we once loved out loud"
-The Dance, Oriah Mountain Dreamer
They become a part of you, a part of your entirety as a person.You see I love the theory that love is the root and the end of all. I find it logical as love is the manifestation of our Creator. Creator = Love, hence, if we stem from that theory then love is unending, limitless. Which brings us to my case in point, you don't stop loving a person. Even if it all ends per se. Believe me, you still do. I'm not saying you are potentially doomed to be in love with them forever, I'm saying you still carry that affection for them in some other form of love. The point is, it's there. It's limitless as is our Creator but we are humans. Our idea of love becomes distorted with pain we stubbornly hold on to, selfishness as dictated and influenced by society and colored with fear of losing and the uncertainty of ever feeling the same intensity of affection as you did the previous ones.
"Live and Love". Two simple words I learned from my deceased grandfather. You see after some point I realized, pardon the cliche, life is indeed short. I try to live in the moment and bask in the small pockets of happiness I see in small things everyday. If you stop for a moment in retrospect, don't you think the time of fulfillment is in the NOW? If it is not now, it becomes a memory as fast as the blink of an eye. It is okay to look back and have yourself swept away with nostalgia from time to time but you must ensure it does not limit your happiness to what has been or what could be. You will never be happy.
Time is now. This is your treasure. So grab hold of it. Make the most of it. Live less in regret. We lack the urgency of the moment to do what should be done, to feel what we should and not reign it in out of fear of sorts and to say what you have been dying to say. Life hurls you with opportunities for each one of them. And once lost is lost forever. Second chances yes. But they are scarce. And a second chance is entirely different than the one you've lost, isn't it?
