Passion comes from the Latin patior, meaning to allow or to submit, but also to endure and, perhaps most interestingly, to suffer.
desiderare, patior
Ah, Sir, if love’s appointed hour has come,
it’s vain to reason; Heaven will not hear.
- Theramenes; Jean Racine’s Phaedra
Hello, Stars.
I remember her telling me she loved looking up at the night sky and at all the stars. Once, we sat on her dock late one night and looked at the reflection of the night sky in the water. I held her shoulders and we listened to the beauty in the silence.
Looking up at the stars tonight, I wonder if she sees them too. When she does see them, I wonder if she thinks about whether I see the stars. I wonder if she gets lonely or if she’s found a new love. I hear she’s found someone to keep her safe at night and to keep her from feeling lonely. I imagine she has someone to call when she wants to hear the sound of another person’s voice, and I’m certain she rests her head on someone else’s chest to hear the simple rhythm of another’s heartbeat.
I’ve found a new love interest, at least. Nothing important yet, you know, but it’s something.
I still think about her, it’s true, but I’ve moved on.
I’ve moved on to looking at the stars alone.
I’ve moved on to taking long walks alone, and driving alone.
I’ve moved on to cooking for one.
I’ve moved on to listening to my own lonely heart beat and sad songs on the radio.
So I still think about her sometimes, especially when the night sky is clear and the stars are bright.
~
After quite possibly the worst nervous breakdown I’ve had in months, I’m feeling pretty depressive. I sincerely apologize for the post shrouded in depression and nostalgia.
- Debbie
p.s. free write wednesday is happening on Friday because I do what I want, okay?
“If you were to press your heart close up against somebody else’s heart eventually your hearts will start beating at the same time. And two little babies in an incubator, their hearts will beat at the same time. Love that. So if you have somebody in your life that is prone to anxiety, like myself, and if you happen to be a calm person, you could come up and hug me heart to heart and my heart hopefully would slow to yours. And I just love that idea. Or maybe yours would speed up to mine. But either way, we’ll be there together.”
- Andrea Gibson
Someone get me out of this terrible mood.
The Regine Olsen / Soren Kierkegaard Love Story
Existentialism is perhaps one of my favorite schools of philosophical thought. Existentialism is all about creating meaning in your life. Existentialists are typically atheists; where the theist believes in an inherent purpose in life, perhaps one given to them by God, the atheist has to create a purpose or a meaning in his or own life. We often say that someone is having an existentialist crisis when he or she is trying to figure out what he or she wants to do with his life – what the meaning of life is, why life is worth living.