A Dangerous Dance

 

Out in the woods I see plants intertwined all around me. It appears to be indiscriminate and totally random. They just grow where they are and use whatever is present to reach up towards the light, or to expand their growth. 

I wonder if this is true? Is nature biologically designed to be egocentric in order to preserve the species? Ideas like this were used to justify the behavior of men when I was young. It was said they were driven to mate with as many women as possible in order to spread their DNA.  And yet there are animals that mate for life. Today we realize that all of us, men and women, are much more than simple biological entities.

People are so complicated. I don't know if plants have memories, but people do. We speak of our hearts, but it is our minds that rule our lives. Once we experience the cruelty or lose the love of others, we remember. It doesn't matter if that cruelty was a million people, or one, it can still hurt us so badly we don't want to take the chance of experiencing it again.

So we dance around each other trying to second guess what would happen if we were closer. It's a dangerous dance involving our deepest thoughts and feelings that could lead anywhere. 

I know when I have decided I love someone my first thoughts are to keep them safe. That's the mother in me. After that I want to care for them, do the things that make them comfortable and happy. That may be mothering too, but it goes farther than that. And in the best of all worlds I want to wrap that person in the light of all my best being, enveloping them in a love that shines so brightly its glare blocks out the rest of the world. 

Love like that is so rare. 

But it exists.