I have a theme, so to speak. An unconscious drawing to the idea of love so encompassing that two become one.

My very favorite poem of all time is John Donne’s The Legacy  It is about a man who loves a woman so much that when they part it feels like he dies. And as he “dies” he wants to send her his heart but when he reaches into his chest to get his heart he finds, not HIS heart but hers.

In yesterday’s poem, it ends with a similar metaphor:
                     “than this: where I does not exist, nor you,
                      so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,
                      so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.”

I am not, on the surface, a soppy romantic, soulmate sort of person. Indeed, if you ask me, I will say there is no such thing. There is no such thing as one perfect romantic partner. There is perhaps, a set of traits that fit and complement a person and any number of people can have those traits.

I do not think I need another person to ‘complete’ myself. I’m complete as I am, even without some of those traits that some might deem more worthy/positive/useful. With all my plusses and minuses, I am still, to my mind, a complete person.

For whatever reason, I have always been adamant that, while having a compatible romantic/life partner is a very nice thing, it is not necessary to my life, my happiness or my well being. And it isn’t, not for me, but I understand that it might be necessary for some others.

And yet, somewhere in my unconscious, there I am drawn to the very romantic notion of two-become-one; that there is no boundary, no separation, just an all encompassing love.