Amaranthine Love

 

amaranthine - adjective - undying or amaranth - noun - a flower that never fades

I have to confess that I am not a big fan of social media. To me, it is a necessary evil. It has an insatiable appetite for attention, devouring an unnecessary amount of my time, but since almost everyone on the planet is on one platform or the other, I have to use it if I want to promote my music. This morning, I went on Twitter to see if anyone commented on my latest promotional tweet, and was surprised to see that John Lennon, who left this life in 1980, has been tweeting–a miracle of fate or just technology–via The Beatles on Twitter. (No, he did not comment on my ad for obvious reasons.) Philosophically, he conveyed, "I think whatever love is...it is constant. It's been the same forever. I don't think it'll ever change. It's a sort of abstract concept that comes and goes whether you like it or not." I agree. It is a constant, it is abstract, and yes, it can come and go as it pleases. But what if it defies all boundaries and stays no matter what as somewhat of an amaranth among weeds?

Case in point: One of my closest women friends is in the process of losing her husband of thirty years to pancreatic cancer. His oncologist is about to release him from the hospital to home, palliative hospice care as he has approximately six months or less to live. Although this man has been an avatar of verbal abuse, insensitivity, unprovoked anger, and self-absorbed unpredictability for the duration of their marriage–with some breaks in the action, of course–my friend, a true saint if there ever was one, has loved him unconditionally and has no idea how she will persevere without him. Huh? 

All day today, I have been tossing and turning my friend's constant-love over in my mind since to me, it doesn't quite make sense. How could anyone love someone as difficult and toxic as her partner for so many years? Finally, I had an epiphany, coming to the conclusion that authentic love has got to be God, and God has got to be love. What my friend possesses is a Godlike, perfect type of love, the kind that accepts all, the kind that forgives all, the kind that endures all...true love, the unconditional, the amaranthine, the kind that is nearly impossible to find. And yet, yes, it does exist. It might not be requited, but yes, it is real. For her, love is an absolute, indubitable constant.

Yes, John, love is abstract, taking many forms and having many definitions. And yes, it will always be a constant because the real McCoy, the indisputable kind, defies all reason, perpetuating itself whether we "like it or not." 

#word of the day, #vocabulary, #writers, #writers and poets, #words, #inspiration, #optimism, #inspiring words, #humor, #spilled thoughts, #motivation, #inspirational thoughts, #inspiration, #inspirational words, #words of wisdom, #affirmation, #optimism, #poets and writers, #writers community, #writers, #readers #writing