All Passion Spent

 A walk in the woods at sunrise. Awakened by birdsong and tree branches swaying lightly in the breeze. It is 7am and the day is just about cool enough to walk now… later it will not be the same. Sauntering home to collapse into the pool, swim a few lengths... and the day stretches out before me in beautiful solitude. No plans. No commitments.

I see a fascinating article, apparently Christians claim they are persecuted because Coca Cola won’t print ‘Jesus is King’ on a can. It makes me think back to last night at the bar with a couple of colleagues. They arrived more than one hour late and, upon arrival one asked what brand of Ginger Beer they had and how much sugar this brand contains. The server was astonished, said he had no idea, and my colleague settled on a diet coke with a slice of lemon and a glass of water ‘light on the ice’ haha. It’s another realm for some people. 

After that, I watched a film called ‘The Invite’. It was a very bizarre film, but it did remind me of the classic Oscar Wilde quote: “One should always be in love. That is the reason one should never marry.” The film, for me, was quite eye opening in its challenge to conventional beliefs and norms. It is quite difficult to try to place yourself in the role of any of the characters. It also serves as a powerful reminder of the immense resentment that can build up in relationships as a result of stifled desires, dreams, hopes, personal goals, and beyond. 

This makes me think of a fantastic book that I read several months ago, All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West. The story of a lady whose husband dies when she is 88. Her children fear that she will fall into desperate loneliness and despair, they fuss about her (trying to pry for inheritance), and to their surprise, she thrives in her new found freedom. The book is a reflective one in which the protagonist looks back on her life and realizes that, although it was a good life, she had a decent marriage and children that she loves… she gave up so much of herself and so many of her own dreams and goals to commit to her family. She loves her adult children but does not necessarily like them, and she lived mostly in the shadows of her husband. A great read. 


 

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