Valentines and a Rose for Emily

By Julian Wash | Rattleberry Pie |

Dear Humans,

Today I wish to return to your awareness an aspect of the Human condition that words can hardly express.  It’s a path that leads to a place euphemistically referred to as nowhere.   It’s a journey of still reflection and quiet repose that entwines the shadows of yesterday with dreams that never were.  It’s a road that ends beneath a solitary lamp light, clarifying the evening amber.  And within this hallowed glow, the umbra of solitude, there’s a vision of finality.  In this light, an empty house sits where a home used to be.  And through the window glass one can see from the outside looking in.

In the late sixties a band from England known as “The Zombies” released an album containing a fairly obscure track entitled “A Rose for Emily.”  The song title was said to have been inspired by William Faulkner’s work of the same name.   Though uniquely different in message, both renditions contain emotionally charged elements of tragic love and loneliness. 

With Valentine’s Day once again upon us there will be flowers and chocolate and many heartfelt words of love and appreciation.   It’s very hard to say exactly what magical ties bind two people together but when hearts are sewn they beat as one -and the ensuing rhythm echoes through eternity. 

Today, from where I stand, I can see a tiny mound where a garden used to grow.   It’s been long abandoned and forgotten.  But through a thicket of weeds there appears a single flower of breathtaking intrigue.  It’s a rose.  It would seem nobody told this rose the garden was over and done. 

So I invite you to take a little walk with me into a somber garden -and maybe somewhere along the way a rose might come to be.  
    
The Lyrical Heart

Traditional western education will have you believe that the heart is just a four chamber organ that contracts in a rhythmic sequence to achieve blood transport and circulation.  And though this aspect is surely valid, there is a bit more to the picture.  -Quite a bit. 

The heart is a uniquely conscious organ that works in close harmony with the brain (and mind consciousness) and the more visceral region of the solar plexus.  The heart wants to ‘sing’ to the body, mind and spirit.  The mind should be vigilant to the needs of the heart -and the heart steward to the clarity of the mind.  When people are in a state of union -such roles can overlap and interchange.   The solar plexus attunes with these vibrations and resonates in a complimentary way within this balanced spectrum of sentience.

When one becomes fully indoctrinated into textbook lure and embodies the concept of a purely anatomical heart, they begin to separate from spiritual filaments of interconnection.  Academicians conscript linear precepts on how organs function in a distinct and independent manner and make no mention of spiritual interplay.  It’s plain and simple:  the brain does the thinking, the heart does the pumping and the intestines handle digestion.  Class dismissed!  

Such disconnects are toxic to the soul.   It can be likened to a parent feeding and clothing their child, but denying tactile love and affection.    The child grows on the outside, but can suffer dearly on the inside.  This holds true with matters of the heart.  If you keep calling it a pump then a pump is what you’ll get.  When you call it “heart consciousness” -you put wings upon it.

The lyrical heart sings a song of love and beats in perfect measure to the rhythm of the soul.
    
Plight of the Brokenhearted

When two people are truly in love, an immutable connection is forged.  It does not go away regardless of the outcome of the relationship.   The heart aligns in an almost musical way within this symphony of two.   It plays a crucial part and gives much of itself in the process.  When the vibration is finely honed, there is equity and balance.  The heart is granted what it has given in relative and equal measure.  But sometimes things don’t always work out.  Then what?

In the stillness of solitude, a smile can mask the pain of the brokenhearted.  They can appear “functional” to others, though they are in a critical state of disrepair.  The mind consciousness works desperately to restore union but is no longer able to make that vital connection on the other end.  As default, it creates a pretense of functionality and happiness.  Like a spiritual balm, the mind tries to soothe the heart, ease some pain and maintain the body as best as it can.  But it can be a sinking feeling.  When the heart is not happy, the whole body suffers.  It’s like losing the engines to your starship and merely controlling the drift. 

The brokenhearted male does not want to show weakness or vulnerability and so tends to internalize the experience.  They are more likely to resume dating at an early stage of breakup, hoping the illusion of wholeness might fill the void.  The brokenhearted female is more likely to externalize her emotions because the heart is front and center within the feminine construct.  It seems that the heart, mind and solar aspects each vibrate uniquely in their respective places.  In the male expression, the aspect of mind is slightly forward.  In the female, it’s the heart.

Though it’s a hard row to hoe, the brokenhearted find salvation and often in the most unexpected ways.  Universe desires balance, so when something’s lost –something’s gained.
    
Love Intention

Love intention migrates into all things said and done.  If the heart expression is greatly compromised, then one merely goes through the mechanical motions in life.  In the process, food loses flavor and the sweetness of the rose is all but forgotten.

When heartfelt intention radiates into something as ordinary as a meal or as elaborate as an architectural abstract, one can literally feel the love within it.  A meal prepared with love intention can be extremely simple but very satisfying and enjoyable.  On the other hand, even the most elaborate (loveless) meal will aftertaste as dry and mundane.   Loveless words are of the same ilk, brittle and stale.  –And so it’s true that all things void of love intention are stymied and lacking in flavor.  When words and deeds become illuminated and palpable- it’s from the light of heart consciousness and love intention.

Every Rose has a Thorn

The beauty, fragrance and seduction of the rose belie the thorns beneath it.  The thorn is there to remind you to be gentle with your touch -but not be afraid.  The rose won’t last forever as a “rose” but as a memory it will sustain.   When cut by the thorn the rose takes back a small part of what it has given -then pleads forgiveness and equity for the indiscretion.   So to love the rose is to admire its beauty, respect its complexities and be ever mindful of its power.

A cut on the thorn is to be expected.  One will bleed, but it won’t last forever.  There will be a scar to serve as reminder -but would you really want it any other way?  Wear your scar as a badge of courage, a mark of distinction and a pearl of wisdom.  Let it symbolize a chapter of completion and the end of a beautiful dance under the light of amber skies.    

Final Thought

Today seems like a good day to give a rose to Emily -or to anyone who has loved and lost and stood alone in the cold looking in.  And through the rhythm of expression and the tears of the abandoned, the heart will make its own light and beacon the angels.  It will be felt as a ray of amber tethered with the Sun. 

And so the healing light, the coherent rays of life, will embrace the heart and dilute the shadows of sadness and pain.  The heart will beat again with purpose and meaning in the Sunrise of the moment.

For the brokenhearted- your vibration is felt and heard.  You are never alone.  It’s not the end but a new beginning.  Be gentle with the heart and listen to it always.  It will speak -though not in the literal way one might prefer.  It will speak in song.  It’s up to you if you want to sing along. 
 
-Until next time

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Article originally published at: http://www.rattlereport.com/rattleberry/2014/2014-02-11
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Picture credits: 
http://fellowworkersfarm.com/2011/11/23/late-roses-autumn-sunlight-and-seasonal-dysphoria/http://rojohn143torreres.deviantart.com/art/Golden-sunset-of-Russia-292907389