Part 10 – A Love Like No Other

Part 10 – A Love Like No Other

“Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true happiness.”-- Bertrand Russell

Tashiki and Qindao remained sitting with Bento in the Water Garden. Time had passed, the sun was a little lower in the sky. Other students had come and gone, to say hello, welcome back, we missed you.

Qindao had known that something was on Bento's mind for quite a while. He tired of waiting for the young student to ask. “What's on your mind, Bento?”

Bento was not startled by the direct question. That is good training. He is learning how to be present in the moment and adapt to rapid and unexpected changes.

“I want to know where you went.” It was a bold question. Qindao and Tashiki silently acknowledged to each other that the kid was learning well.

Tashiki started with his answer first. “I had something I could no longer pursue within the grounds of The School. Threads of my life outside these walls were coming unraveled. I had to take what I had learned so far in here and make practical, real-world application of it.”

Bento knew there was more to the story. He searched his own skills for the right question that would unlock the next piece. “What made you think that, Tashiki-san?”

Tashiki was caught a little off guard by the question. The kid hit home on a sensitive subject. It had been years since he left The School and even though he thought about it every day, he had not come back until today. The reason he left was not complicated. It was surprisingly simple.

“I saw a poster in a novelty store while I was out shopping.”

Bento sensed he had hit the right button, and gave one more prod. “What did it say?”

Tashiki thought back to that day. “It was a poster that listed the twelve zodiac signs, and with each was a brief phrase describing what sex is like for that sign. Except for Taurus. For Taurus it said, 'A Love Like No Other'. Why is that? It is a silly joke of sexual word-play, but that the Taurus one, which I would notice of course, is the one that was so different. I could not get it out of my head.

“It bothered me. I felt like it was accusing me of some sort of weakness. I must stay strong, I told myself. Perhaps what I am learning about my Love Like No Other is that I can live in it, live in its moment, and survive.

“Listening to The Doors "Touch Me" I had a thought. I may not always like you, but my love is forever. That seemed to be something true about me. My friend Oishii says I should be more forgiving of people in my life like Byoujixyaku. She says I should use her real name, for example. The point is that I was telling her the story and used a phrase like "Somewhere in the worst, coldest, darkest, most uncomfortable place in my heart, there is a place for her." I may not always like you, but my love is forever.

“I question whether I have a love like no other. Surely I can not be the only one who feels this way, or feels love like I do. I am wondering if that is the case. No one talks about love, of course. There is nothing in our own culture that allows for the free expression, even verbally and in writing, of personal authentic love experiences, good and bad. Love is, for lack of a better term, romanticized. Love is treated differently.

“Other cultures allow Love into their lives in a very personal and open way. We talk about having no expectations placed on Love, but that is a lie. We do it all the time. We expect Love to sweep us off out feet, conquer all, and be the One True Thing in a life. That is all crap. I find myself back to considering that I used to call The Effing Fairy Tale. It is the idealized, romanticized, vision of Love that we all are indoctrinated with as children and into adulthood. If it is not all encompassing, all consuming, life altering, destruction of the foes and elevation of the one desired, then it is not Love at all, but some crude imitation.

“I suggest that the opposite is true. The destructive expression of Love like that is authentic surely, but is not sustainable. It does not come from a healthy place.

“It may allow some who are diligent to open a door to a healthy place, but that is, I think, a rarity. Those who enter Love through the Fairy Tale are destined to misery.

“Those who enter love through humility and surprise are more likely to find something that lasts. A Love Like No Other.

“And yet that is not quite right. Humility I think is one aspect. Surprise gives me pause. It is not the right word.

“I, for one, am no longer surprised when I fall in love. Frankly, I am surprised when I do not. I try not to take it for granted. Public record shows that my success rate with that is less than exemplary.”

Qindao could not hold back his snicker at this. “Qindao thinks I'm an idiot.”

“I do,” Qindao piped in, “but no more so than I am. Please continue.”

“I shall, my friend, thank you.

“Surprise is not the word that I want. I am surprised at how my love endures for some so far over time, distance, and even dislike as noted earlier. There is some awe in me as well, even though "Falling in Love" is a daily occurrence.

“Perhaps I am coming to understand that Love demands a certain openness from me. That, for whatever reason, my Weakness-Strength, my Vulnerability-Advantage, is A Love Like No Other. It is a part of me and demands to be treated as such. As much as I cannot write with my left hand as well as I can with my right, I cannot love like all others as well as I can Love Like No Other.

“Of course, that exposes the vulnerability in me underneath the jaded, sarcastic, pessimistic, Arrogant Prick that I am. None of that is an act. I really am all those things. I am demanding, selfish, uncompromising, elitist, snobbish, and at times (most times maybe) an Arrogant Prick. What all that masks is that I come with a Love Like No Other, my Love is forever.

“I suppose that makes me more unusual than it does different. I do not think that I am the only one. I may be wrong that we who feel and live this way are the minority. It could be that everyone is like that and I have not yet seen it.

“I love that it might be true.”

Thus endeth the lesson. Let us meditate upon it.

Touch Me by The Doors
Songwriters: Densmore, John; Krieger, Rob; Morrison, Jim; Manzarek, Ray;

Yeah!

Come on, come on, come on

Come on now touch me, baby

Can't you see that I am not afraid?

What was that promise that you made?

Why won't you tell me what she said?

What was that promise that you made?

Now, I'm gonna love you

Till the heavens stop the rain

I'm gonna love you

Till the stars fall from the sky for you and I

Come on, come on, come on

Come on now touch me, baby

Can't you see that I am not afraid?

What was that promise that you made?

Why won't you tell me what she said?

What was that promise that you made?

I'm gonna love you

Till the heavens stop the rain

I'm gonna love you

Till the stars fall from the sky for you and I

I'm gonna love you

Till the heavens stop the rain

I'm gonna love you

Till the stars fall from the sky for you and I

Stronger than dirt