This week, I was struck by an article that I read on The Atlantic about falling in love. It was a letter that an American author, John Steinbeck, wrote to his son while he was attending boarding school. His letter was in response to his boy telling his father that he had fallen desperately in love with a classmate. John Steinbeck’s response is beautiful and touching. Both respectful and fatherly to his son’s blossoming love, his final line struck me most…
Nothing good gets away.
Four simple words and yet so powerful.
Nothing good gets away.
Just sit with that a moment.
There is profundity in simplicity. Like when a child expresses a observation that we often dismiss as mundane. An everyday occurrence and, yet, in the eyes of a child, a stunning discovery. Those four words stopped me in my tracks.
Nothing good gets away.
How many times have we thought we have struck upon the most amazing thing? It could be love, could be lust, could be a fleeting infatuation. At that moment, it feels like it is the only thing that is important. But, as time wears on…and layers get stripped away, there is an opportunity to examine this plane and decide – do I wish to go further?
With infatuation and lust, those layers tend to be superficial and the interest to go deeper fades away. But, when it is good, truly good, even if those layers may be difficult, there is the desire to keep moving forward. Those layers can take months and years to work through, but intrinsically, the heart intuitively knows when it wants to continue to explore – sometimes into deep, dark caverns of the human spirit.
Where I am going with this, is I want to implore you to think deeper about your personal relationship with love, lust and infatuation. I don’t want you to think about a specific person, but more, about your actual meanings of love, lust and infatuation. How do those three simple emotions relate to your life in more than a just sexual way?
There may be interests, your career, your personal self-illusions – that you have had that could easily fall into any of those three interests. Have you been truly been moving to the next layer or are you ruminating in one – not certain if you want to take the plunge into the next level?
Lust and infatuation are fun, but fleeting. Love transcends those first layers and, in the end, culminates into something beautiful. I want you to find what you truly love, because my friends, when it is good, it doesn’t get away.