Love and Contest

Check out the contest after the journal entry.
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Though lovers be lost love shall not.

Dylan Thomas
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Hello Ken
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At one time I wrote "I have loved and lost, but I will live to love again." At the time I wrote that it didn't seem possible. But as certain as Spring someone came along and grabbed my heart. Since then I've been wary of proclaiming to myself any tautologies of my, or anyone else's, susceptibility to the untreatable madness we call "love."

Most of my history of love affairs has been about loss. It's a sad and heart breaking thing, but as my friend Skip says "It sure gets your emotions flexed." and is that a bad thing after all?

When we lose the perfect soul mate, the perfect life partner, the perfect man or woman, the one to make our lives complete, we are sure another such a one will never come along again. Until the next time. What I have discovered in my rough and tumble romantic history is that, just as Thomas says, the propensity, the desire, the affection, the need, the self sacrifice, the idolatry are never lost. They abide in us, silently and patiently, waiting for the door to open to express themselves in whatever way our imagination and circumstances provide.

Strange things happen. You may meet someone you find not attractive, not your "type," only to find yourself in love with that person six months later. It happened a year later for me. She was sitting next to me at a party. I thought she was interesting but not my type. A year later at another party she was again sitting next to me and I saw a different quality to her. We had lunch. Then she invited me over for dinner. I stayed. That was a six year relationship which ended only when she met another guy more to her liking. C'est l'amour.

Sometimes it's not another person but a group of people, a family, an organization, a cause, a job, all of which can be lost, and the pain may be awful, but it just proves that the love still exists in the heart and it needs to find another way to manifest itself.

Love comes because it's always there. You don't need to wear your heart on your sleeve (or leave it outside on a plate, as I am guilty of doing sometimes). I think the answer is to appreciate that the sensitivity, the affection, the passion and the adventure are all a permanent part of your being and, yes, love yourself for them and be ready to share them when the arrow flies. To be in love, to be ready to love, to be eager for love, one is never more alive.

Dana Bate - Vagabond Journeys
Never Give Up
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CONTEST Here's a contest for you. How hot is it? When I first ran this contest the winner was a school teacher who wrote: "It's so hot my hot flashes cool me off." Now it's your turn. How hot is it? It's so hot my toaster pops up before I push it down. (DB) Its so hot we are using our dog's panting as an extra fan (SH) it's so hot that sweat runs uphill. (BK) It's so hot....the microwave popcorn packets are popping in the cupboard (LS) It's so hot I saw two trees fighting over a dog. It's so hot here in Texas that people have been deliberately committing crimes so they can go to hell and cool off. (JV)

It's so hot.... Good luck, prizes will be awarded, the decision of the certifiably mad judge is final. DB ************************

How To Disturb The Universe

He who seeks rest finds boredom. He who seeks work finds rest.

Dylan Thomas
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One day I was talking with a young fellow, a high school senior, who had done a few plays in school and was considering majoring in drama when he got to college and then going into show business. He asked me what life was like for an actor. I don't remember everything I said to him, but it went something like this.

Life for an actor is interesting, exciting, aggravating, irritating, satisfying, fulfilling, frightening, insecure, fascinating, difficult, exhausting, vivifying, unpredictable, confusing, revealing, contorted, visionary, preposterous, challenging, inspiring, dangerous, resuscitating and extraordinary. The one thing it definitely never is, is boring.

People don't get into the arts in order not to be bored, but once in it becomes clear that work time is of the essence and down time is spare. If an actor is not memorizing lines, searching the script for it's hidden beauties, working his body, voice and spirit in rehearsal designing and fulfilling his role, taking the great leap into performance when all things else are of no matter, he is out looking for work. And there is nothing boring about it.

I for one am grateful that I was able, and still am, to be an artist. It's a mysterious, magical way to live. Most artists don't talk about it or even notice how special the work they do is to the world. T. S. Eliot wrote "Do I dare disturb the universe." A good artist is at the point of disturbing the universe every time he picks up a pen or a brush. Why? Because he is using natural law as his tool. Because art is not an imitation of nature, it is an imitation, or explanation of the essence of nature, "to hold as 'twere the mirror up to nature" as Shakespeare put it, to explain the universe to itself. Physics tells us that when a thing is observed and contemplated it changes it's behavior. It is disturbed.

What gives us the right to do that? I don't know. I only know it's true. There are many excellent ways to live one's life, being an artist is only one of them. But we are given a special trust to do the work we must do. Most artists take it for granted.

I don't know what happened to that boy. Maybe he's a busy actor these days. That would be good. But I'm grateful to him for asking me that question so I could articulate what I know.

DB
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AUTUMN QUESTION

(This is not a contest.)

At what event of the past do you wish you could be present? Why?

8 responses so far.

dbdacoba@aol.com

Thank you.
DB
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