Falling in Love...

I went to the movies this evening with friends, and at the end of the movie, we had a discussion about what the ending really meant.  Did the female star leave her former boyfriend? Did he leave her?  I had another thought.  I didn't think that it was about him and her.  I thought the star had found herself, and instead of walking away from him, she was really following her own heart.  She wasn't falling out of love with anyone. She was falling in love...with her own heart.

The traditional model of male-female relationships is one of either going toward each other or going away from each other.  Far more rare, and harder, is it to listen to those quiet rumblings in our hearts and move toward them.  That may take the woman toward her lover or away, but the compass is her heart, not the man.

I know.  I did that 20 years ago. I will be the first to say that following one's heart is not any faster route to happily ever after than when the woman marries the handsome prince. There are no guarantees of happiness or prosperity.  And, I have been sad...often about leaving my prince when I followed my heart. How much sadder it would have been though, if I had not listened to those rumblings. Almost every day has been an adventure: some adventures were fun and exhilarating; others not so much.

What I have lived and learned in that 20 years has made me the woman I am: the sum total of those experiences.  I am glad that I fell in love with my heart and that I had the courage to follow where it has led me.  Some of those less than wonderful adventures have had the tendency to make me less brave over the years, yet I still listen and many of the times I follow.  And, almost every time I haven't followed it, later I was certain that I missed the boat when I didn't.