“something’s lost
and something’s gained
in living every day”
Joni Mitchell, “Both Sides Now”
Last Sunday I was sitting by the pool with friends on a gorgeous sunny afternoon. My husband was in the pool chatting, my boy (adult submissive partner, not a child) was sitting next to me on my lounge chair. Just before I got up to prepare for the drive home, we were talking and laughing with the group friends we often spend this pocket of time with. Before I stood up, I was taken by a momentary burst of gratefulness.
In that moment, life was really good. We were smiling and felt a collective bond of joy that none of us were quite ready to let go of. We’ll do it all again next week, but there’s a certain magic in just being together without agendas or plans… just existing in a state of happy. I knew that as soon as I got up, my hyper-driven brain would kick in again and I’d be thinking about traffic and work and a list of other things that would rob me of this moment of bliss.
My husband and my boy know and love each other. They each make me happy and bring something unique to my life, and they aren’t intimidated by or jealous of what the other offers me. The love I feel for them doesn’t take away from what I have for the other, it complements and amplifies it because love is something that can only be magnified when it is given away.
When I sat there that day, I thought of my partner who left this life in 2001. I wasn’t sad though, because I knew he would be so proud of the man I have become, and that he would be so happy for the love I have found. I have chosen to be open about my life and my relationships because life is too short to ignore chasing what makes you happy. I’m not here to impress you, I’m here to squeeze out every minute of joy I can find in this life, and to share that joy with others because that is what makes me feel as though I am not hoarding the happiness I have been given.
None of us are going to make it out of this alive, so I challenge you to chase your joy. Find what makes you happy and run toward it with all you’ve got.
Never forget that I love you, and that excludes no one.
Love,
