What's Love Got To Do With It?

I’ve had breakups in May, August, November, October, June, April, January (my birthday), July (I’m not much fun in the summer, it seems.

The worst is when they walk out the door and say, “see you later” and you never see them again.

The other go-to technique is when one side moves to another city (“see you soon!”) and then…you never see them again.

Those are not all of them. Just maybe the ones where I felt the most pain. Regardless of who was breaking who.

Honesty is not just with words. It’s of course with actions.

It’s also your own unique way of bringing your interpretation of beauty into the world.

You see beauty differently than me.

So I want to learn more ways to express myself. I want to tell you in as many ways as possible how I feel about you.

I went to a 4 hour course yesterday by David McCandless, author of the amazing book, “information is beautiful.” Why not spend a day with the world’s expert on how to tell a story from how we visualize data.

He said one way to generate an idea for a story is to ask, “what has betrayed you?”

He showed a graphic. He compiled a million status updates to see when couples are most likely to break up.

After Valentine’s day. Before summer. Before Christmas.

When are they least likely? On Christmas. Too cruel.

He told the story of a million sadnesses, of the story of love, in one graphic.

My sadnesses are all over the calendar. Every month has a memory of betrayal hidden in it.

Every month has a question in it. “Why did this happen?” And I go to sleep crying when I ask that – because there is never a good answer.

But I always find ways to move on. What’s another way to have meaning in my life than just a single connection with another person.

That’s the purpose of story. “When were you last betrayed? ”

Easy. I betray myself . Every day. Waking up. Thinking there is any other point in life other than just surrendering to what this moment has to offer.

Finding the hidden pockets of beauty in the moment. Studying the landscape of gratitude in the moment. Passing the person in the street and smiling. They smile back.

Surrender. At the end of the day I want to sign the sunset with my pen, like the day was a work of art I had created just for me.


Photo credit: Pamela Sisson

Share This Post

Other posts you might be interested in: