Understanding Marriage
Coming from a divorced family, I do not have the privilege of being able to take marriage for granted. The expectation many children have of getting married in their twenties, starting a life with their spouse, and growing old together is not as firmly implanted in my mind. Rather, it is a romantic possibility - something I hope to attain. But I also have many questions about it.
Continue reading "Understanding Marriage" ›How Has Romance Changed Since We Were Eleven Years Old?
Romance was a whole lot better when we were eleven. Back then, there was so much more to hope for, so much more to wonder and worry about. In the end, all of the hype basically boiled down to one essential question: whether or not someone liked you. If a girl liked you, you were consumed with elation. You were sparkling with specialness. Liking a girl was exciting and mischievious; it meant you thought she was pretty, that you wanted to kiss her - about as bold a declaration as you could make in sixth grade.
Continue reading "How Has Romance Changed Since We Were Eleven Years Old?" ›Vulnerability In Love
I have wavered on the question of whether true love really exists since the first time I told a girl I loved her nine years ago. Up until recently, I thought love was an elusive feeling, more of an ideal than a reality, something that could be felt in fragments during a beginning-of-relationship fascination but never achieved in the way shown in novels and movies. With all of my long-term girlfriends, I thought I was in love during the relationship, but then questioned the feeling afterwards. I wasn’t able to say with certainty that I had experienced love. In retrospect, I think the “love” I felt in the past was actually a sum of physical attraction, a strong fondness for the girl’s personality, and a desire to be within the security of a relationship. What I have learned is that true love requires one ingredient more powerful than any of those factors: vulnerability.
Continue reading "Vulnerability In Love" ›Being In A Small, Cozy Niche
The feeling of being tucked away in a tiny, remote niche is one of ultimate security. Apart from the coziness factor, knowing that you are in a place where you can’t be found has a certain excitement to it. When I build a house one day, I’d like to have a secret door in one of the walls that leads to my own private lair - a place with the coolness of a treehouse and the secrecy of an underground headquarters. I can’t remember the last time I found an intimate little nook like that, although I can easily picture the recessed rock or hollow oak that I would like to lay in and just think for hours, away from the eyes of the world.
Continue reading "Being In A Small, Cozy Niche" ›Wondering What I Would Do If I Had Three Wishes
“What would you do if you had three wishes?” is an age-old question that dates back to Arabian tales involving genies and magic lamps. The legend allows the master of the lamp any three requests except more wishes. In college, during boring lectures, I used to ponder what I would wish for.
Continue reading "Wondering What I Would Do If I Had Three Wishes" ›Slowly Sinking To The Bottom Of A Swimming Pool
There is a peaceful solitude to submerging in a pool and hanging around at the bottom for a while. Water diffuses sound, so whatever noise is occuring above the surface becomes calmed and muted below. The sensation of floating and the rapid micro-bubbles that flit around your body add to the zen-like experience.
Continue reading "Slowly Sinking To The Bottom Of A Swimming Pool" ›Having A Really, Really Good Dream
A philosopher once wrote “If a pauper were to dream he was a king for half his life, and a king were to dream he was a pauper for half his life, then there would be no difference between the two.”
Continue reading "Having A Really, Really Good Dream" ›Closely Inspecting Crystals Of Sand On The Beach
There is a micro-world to every object, which we seldom notice in the course of our efficient lives. If you look closely at the immediate surroundings of a blade of grass in a field, for instance, you will find a lot more than just other grass: a tiny white mineral deposit, a yellow thread that has peeled off a nearby aging stalk, an industrious ant scaling a three-leaf clover. It is kind of interesting to think that this blade of grass’ entire existence has been ignored by every other person on Earth except for you.
Continue reading "Closely Inspecting Crystals Of Sand On The Beach" ›Rubbing My Feet Together In Bed
Every night as I am lying in bed about to fall asleep, I find myself rubbing my feet together underneath the blankets. The warmth it generates, along with the comfortable sensation of grazing the sensitive bottoms of my feet, creates a lull that sends me off to slumber.
Continue reading "Rubbing My Feet Together In Bed" ›Staring Up At Something That’s Really High
Looking way, way up is enjoyable in much the same way as looking far, far away. It allows you to view things that are larger than yourself in a more conceptual and complete way. Looking up is better than looking far, however, because it requires you to tilt your head back (which is sort of relaxing) and focus your eyes in a direction they typically don’t look. Very high objects also tend to have a majestic, unreachable quality to them due to the fact that they can’t be physically touched. The stars and the tops of skyscrapers are examples.
Continue reading "Staring Up At Something That’s Really High" ›