I know it’s been a very, very long time since I’ve updated this blog. If you haven’t noticed, it’s a balance I’m, well, working on balancing! I find immense amounts of inspiration in my daily life that usually bring immense amounts of joy. I thrive on the little things in life; they truly make our world go ’round. Anything that makes me smile is something I want to share, in hopes to make someone else smile as well. But then there are those days (most days lately), where I don’t want to spend my free time in front of a computer. Is that so bad?
I found this quote recently and it struck me so deeply, I simply had to cozy up in front of this blog and get back into the groove. As we approach our 1 year wedding anniversary, I’ve begun reminiscing about our special day (fully admitting to watching our speeches again the other night….ya, I’m that chick.). One of my favorite parts about our ceremony was when one of my best friends read the below passage from C.S. Lewis. I know it’s long, but trust me, it’ll make you all warm & fuzzy on the inside!
“Being in love is a good thing, but it is not the best thing. There are many things below it, but there are also things above it. You cannot make it the basis of a whole life. It is a noble feeling, but it is still a feeling. Now no feeling can be relied on to last in its full intensity, or even to last at all. Knowledge can last, principles can last, habits can last; but feeling come and go. And in fact, whatever people say, the state called “being in love’ usually does not last. If the old fairy-tale ending “They lived happily ever after’ is taken to mean ‘They felt for the next fifty years exactly as they felt the day before they were married’, then it says what probably never was nor ever would be true, and would be highly undesirable if it were. Who could bear to live in that excitement for even five years? What would become of your work, your appetite, your sleep, your friend-ships?
But, of course, ceasing to be ‘in love’ need not mean ceasing to love. Love in this second sense – love as distinct from “being in love’ – is not merely a feeling. It is a deep unity, maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habit; reinforced by the grace which both partners ask, and receive, from God. They can have this love for each other even at moments when they do not like each other; as you love yourself even when you do not like yourself. They can retain this love even when each would easily, if they allowed themselves, be ‘in love’ with someone else. ‘Being in love’ first moved them to promise fidelity: this quieter love enables them to keep the promise. It is on this love that the engine of marriage is run: being in love was the explosion that started it.”
It’s good, right? This passage and the image above are some of those things that bring me joy, bring a smile to my face and a happy-go-lucky attitude. Hope it brightens your day as well.
Carpe Diem,
Mandy
