There are nights when I say to myself, “Man, why didn’t I figure this love thing out sooner?” It seems so simple now. I think all things feel like that once you’ve done all the wrong things and stumbled backwards into the right one. I’m at that point now, understanding that one of the keys to a loving and healthy relationship is having that desire to share new experiences with your partner and actually being committed to having fun with each other. The thing that gets me really excited about this revelation is that we’ve known this from day one. I’m not saying she and I knew we were meant for each other. We did realize how good it felt to spend time with a person that, to paraphrase my daughter, “didn’t suck the whimsy out of you.” I suspect that this is the source of our bond–we find actual joy in each other’s presence and together can turn simple days and experiences into heartfelt activities. In short, we can really have fun doing nothing. We can also have fun trying new stuff.
This came to pass recently as we went to an Art Battle. I love art and cannot do art in the physical fashion. I enjoy watching it and to be able to see artists create something in 20 minutes that is worth spending hundreds of dollars to own… madness. It wasn’t just experiencing the show. It was experiencing it with her and feeling safe and vulnerable and having a partner who is there with you and not there judging you or defending their own fragile ego or nursing their own fears and incongruences in the space. We just went out and tried stuff and it was dope. Then, we ate pizza.
That is how love should look.
Some Thoughts:
- Absolutely Bonkers Headline of the Day: “A top banker tried to sway Pope Leo XIV on rare earth mining” Really out here begging for approval to wreck the planet. Bankers are the type of people who often think they are good but are in reality anything but. Heck, everything but.