CHAPTER 1: LOVE
There is a magnificent balance when two individuals merge together in a celebration of what it is that brought them there, from shared interests to time spent, it is still two separate minds meeting together in a unique type of harmony. It’s difficult to say that harmony is a point of perfection, it’s the same as saying that there is still order in chaos. Not all moments are measured out to ensure ultimate happiness at all times, but through the balance of both negative and positive, the harmony that is created is specific to those individuals.
We both came from extraordinarily different paths, quite literally from different sides of the world, but found in each other an individual who was open to learning more and experiencing more. While the Mrs was always inherently focused on health and psychology, the Mr was focused on creation and expression. We slowly learned and acclimted to adapt to one another, how else can you survive the first few nerve-wracking days of moving in together? Suddenly there was a new constant, and we strived to maintain communication and thoughts. There were late nights spent on the living room couch, talking to one another about our goals, hopes, and dreams that would end in a beautiful breakfast to start the work day.
Time passed on and this unique combination first came alive when we realized we were slowly starting to merge our personal influence into one another’s businesses. We would commune together over our dinner table, griping about the failures and triumphs of our individual days. We both contributed to improving and amplifying every second of our days. This could not have been done had we both not established an open mindset, understanding that our fields and work were so diverse. We had to educate one another on what we did, how we did it, and why we did it before we could start entertaining the others’ suggestions.
Ultimately it’s been proven time and time again, that sometimes it takes the unseeing eye, the outsiders take to expose the truth. But truth cannot come without trust, and trust was built through patience and knowledge. There is no easy way for some words to be verbalized, but when you pair them with compassion, empathy, and understanding (maybe even a sprinkling of frustration) you find yourself suddenly in a foreign place. In this place, you can feel safe enough to be exposed and vulnerable, strong and comforted, held and embraced both intellectually and physically. At first, this place feels highly uncomfortable, doubt creeps in and you start by questioning the words, but ultimately, you are questioning the individual responsible for uttering those words! Recognizing the duality of this foreign place and keeping the communication open and honest, you can start to realize you are not alone in that place because the individual choosing to share with you is sitting right beside you, even experiencing the same doubt!
Love is not an obligation, it is not something that is taken for granted, and love cannot be quantified by actions. To experience love, you have to accept that it’s not the floating red hearts and chocolate candies coupled with flowers (although those are great expressions of love), but it is that harmony of all that is good and bad within, an acceptance of being there for one another in all ways and also always. Experience love with happiness and joy, fear and sorrow, anger and frustration, elation and surprises, it all comes together as one. One of the best realizations we’ve had is that our love is something as simple as a homemade cup of coffee while watching the sun rise over the mountaintops.
We cherish these moments, that carry with us throughout the day, alone we are strong and together we are a renewed type of strong. What is this type of love without respect? Respect is the acknowledgment that we always recognize ourselves as individuals, the same for any relationship (be it working or personal), with individual needs and preferences. Transitioning that respect through work was something that allowed us to excel in our own fields, and realizing that the knowledge we’ve formed together would help us transition into a new type of converged field of business.
When you’ve formed this bond, you can understand that your failures are your strengths, there is no positive or negative, and there is feedback for improvement, but the question will always remain, what do you want to do about it? Well, to begin, ASK that question aloud. As you start answering that question for yourself, you can choose to lean on all of your strengths.
Don’t succumb to the trappings of falling in love, rather, as we take leaps of faith, take a leap into love!