In the Caress of Love after Love

A few days back while riding home on my bullet, with a weight on my mind heavier than the mighty beast I was astride, a breezy thought whizzed by. The message was, reconciliation with myself is at the heart of attracting all good things.

I am pretty focused on business nowadays and I am very keen to do very well. The message I let in at that moment was, my business performance depends on whether inside of myself there is a battle zone or a place of tranquility.

The heaviness lifted from me once the understanding dawned. I felt strong and light – energized by thoughts touched in silent understanding. It occurs to me now – a calm thought has the power to cast a spell on other stressful thoughts.

May be the new thought that lightened my mind occurred in the context of a poem I had read two or three days earlier. Isn’t it wonderful that memories of nice experiences resurface at opportune moments to create a fresh blossoming within?

The poem I had read is, Love after Life, by a Caribbean poet, Derek Walcott.

The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other’s welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

love after love

The poem resonates with me for the wisdom it holds, clothed in simple language. It invites me to accept myself as I am, unbound by the images I have of myself. Its words carry premonitions of me celebrating my past, present and future in wholesome happiness – in total acceptance of everything that has gone by.

It is time to reclaim myself from the loves of my past, holding me captive to memories that don’t fade all too easily. There is a need to heal myself and I am aware, I am the healer too.

The words call me to break free from the images and masks that I wear – to be one with myself. Because, with all my frailties I am a creation of brilliance and am more than enough. So, it is celebration time and a time for pampering myself for the authentic unity that I represent.

The time for frugal sacrifices are over, it is time to feast on my senses. It is also time to stop dancing to the whimsical, unrhythmic beats of others. It is time for my dance.

As I move along in my business and life from this space of love, I will discover newer dimensions of love that will suffuse me. That will be the precursor of the love for the people who matter in my life. There is and there will be – love after love, waves after waves. The love that swathes me after I discover myself  caresses me with lightness and wholeness.

The poem, A Blessing of Solitude by John O’Donohue also echoes with a very similar strain of understanding.

May you have respect for your own individuality and difference.
May you realize that the shape of your soul is unique,
that you have a special destiny here,
That behind the facade of your life
there is something beautiful, good, and eternal happening.
May you learn to see yourself with the same delight, pride,
and expectation with which God sees you in every moment.

The time has come to look at myself in total awareness feeling pleased at what I observe. It is time to reclaim my heart and feel blessed for the wholeness and congruence.

Leave a Comment