Shakespeare, midsummer night’s dream:
“Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind,
and therefore is winged cupid painted blind.”
Why does he say love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind
Because Love lives in the realm of imagination – and uses it to enhance what is in front of your eyes.
When we are ready to fall in Love, we make up a personality and project it onto somebody else –
they make us “feel” high, beautiful, complete. Giddy. Outside of ourselves. We are seeing that person with our imagination which has no
limitations – like we’re creating a symphony, or a piece of art, and fractionalizing the object of our desire – dividing them into unrecognizable
pieces so that we can create a mosaic that enhances our vision of who we are –
Well the course of true love never did run smooth
Why?
Because it exists in the realm of imagination. And facts to the contrary spring up and challenge that image of who that person is who you have
fallen in love with.
Sometimes your true love’s values are not the same as yours, as you find out over the occasional spat, argument, or screaming fight, where you tear out each other’s hair, metaphorically speaking
But the good news is, Love lives in the imagination. And therefore you can enhance it. You can expand it. Cultivate it.
And as you cultivate it you often find change happening in the other person.
You might see little glimmers of your vision of who they are.
And as you lift them up, they may fall even more deeply in love with you.
You have a powerful imagination.
I met my soulmate. He was perfect in every way.
Gorgeous. Musical. He adored me and my talents.
Between us, I was the one he projected onto somewhat incorrectly, because, deep down, I didn’t believe this perfection could be real.
He went back to Brazil and invited me to join him. I ended it. I didn’t believe in my imagination or my ability to choose wisely or my ability to sustain that vision.
And his projection onto me caused him to be shattered, disillusioned.
As for where my projection was objectively correct or incorrect, I’ll never know.
Either way, at some point, the imagination will be your key to gaining back whatever you lost, or feel you’ve lost.
And gaining it back with awareness, joy and spontaneity. And keeping it so close and so dear.
HERE: Joan Sharp of The Exponential Moment
Engendering clarity
Transforming resistance
Distilling to the sublime
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