Love is a two-way street. Like any such street, it can get rather crowded, although it can also be quite lonely. Depending on the seasons and the days, it may be more illuminated than usual. Sometimes the streetlamps on the sidewalks that flank it are polished and the old bulbs are replaced, and the whole region is flooded with light and warmth; other times, a light (or a few) may go out—either extinguished due to a failed circuit or a hurricane or a naughty boy who decided to throw things at it and break it—and the street is cloaked in darkness. Like any street, it is visited by folks from all walks of life, and there are thieves and gangsters and policemen who wander through. Like any street, it is lively and busy during rush hour, and accidents may happen.
It is a two-way street, but a very narrow one as well, like those found in snaking up the slopes of old-world European or Middle Eastern villages. To navigate along such a street takes skill—you need at least some IQ to pass a driver’s ed. Exam—and vigilance. It takes patience, and it also takes compassion. You might run into dumpsters and donkeys if you are not careful. The goal is to avoid the garbage and the asses.
On this two-way street, you’ll get a chance to communicate with other cars. This is empathy. This is love. Since it’s so narrow, only one car can pass through at a time, so you’ll find yourself maneuvering the car forward and backwards in a choreography of compromise. True love is the romance of the ongoing dance; two drivers who constantly make advances toward each other, then back off to give each other some leeway, who accept and act both with passionate advances and chivalrous withdrawals. That is the ideal. How often does it happen? As often as you meet a pair of extremely courteous drivers on a narrow two-way street who will each go out of their way to ensure the right-of-way of the other. It isn’t common. But it isn’t impossible, either.
Love is a temporary madness? Love is one soul living in two bodies? That is all very good and well. But take it from the cousin of a half-dozen die-hard car mechanics. Love is a two-way street, and here’s to hoping you’ve got a clean windshield to see all the wonders of what’s coming at you next.
"Angreek87"
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