Spiritual Romance

we're anything brighter then even the sun
(we're everything greater
than books
might mean)
we're every anything more than believe
(with a spin
leap
alive we're alive)
we're wonderful one times one"

ee cummings

I love this poem. The poet captures the euphoria of love without dismissing the wonder of the individual. He doesn't rave on and on about how he was lost before he met his love, or how he might consider his new mate to be as perfect as Aphrodite. Best of all, he throws away the clichéd image of 'I was half and now that I have met you I am whole'. Thank goodness there's no Jerry McGuire character in this poem saying, "You complete me."

Allow me to continue before you think me jaded as well as a naysayer to romantic love. The mathematics of this poem proves elegant and true. 'we're wonderful one times one'. To me, this is the most important line and Cummings definitely saved the best for last. He is saying that one (whole being) times one (whole being) can also equal 'one' (whole 'we', a whole relationship). This is the essence of any spiritual partnership (romantic or otherwise).

Looking for Love...
I'd like to introduce you to a different way of looking at romantic love. Although the term 'spiritual partnership' can apply to many types of relationships, I will focus on the romantic variety first.

We have been conditioned by our friends, family, fairy tales, the media, society, music and religion to feel inadequate if we don't find the perfect 'soulmate' in life. Many of us have cried into our pillows just wishing we could feel whole, wanting to be made complete by a 'better half'. I'm here to tell you in the most comforting way... that's a load of crap.

Being a 'whole' person in the deepest sense of the meaning can only come from following the path of your true purpose in life, from following your bliss. You can't place the responsibility for your happiness on another person, it is not fair to them and it is not fair to you. That kind of relationship always ends in disappointment. If you are following your true path, then you will find authentic power within yourself and the nagging need for someone else (seeking external power) will disappear. As you continue on your path many different people will come into your life. All of them are teachers, all of them a spiritual partners, and some may even be romantic partners as well. All relationships, romantic or not, hold Cummings' mathematical possibility of becoming a 'we'.

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