“We’re together.”
It’s funny how, when two people are in a relationship, this is mostly said as an almost non-commital expression. You’re not married, you’re not saying it’s forever, you could be just hanging out for a while.
We find it much more exciting to say “I am yours” or “you are mine”, somehow, which are expressions of submission or possession. And there is that, in love. Recently, on CBC Radio, I heard an author say how “when you fall in love with someone, you become their hostage”, and there is a lot of truth to that statement. When your heart connects to another, you are captive, chained: your movement in this world is no longer free, even though the expression of your love can be liberating, exhilarating, fulfilling.
But why should possession be cooler and stronger than harmony?
“We’re together” should be a supreme expression of love. Because it means your hearts are in agreement. Because you are creating something beyond yourselves that resembles both of you, yet is different from what you would be if it weren’t for the other. Your lives have aligned, and you’re walking down the road in step. You become interwoven, and the ties are strong and binding, but they are created as a common work, a common fabric. There is no certificate of ownership.
It’s also a beautiful expression because when love is strong and beautiful and worthwhile, then there is nothing greater than keeping it together.
