“They say that love is the fundamental core of the universe. They were wrong. It is not love that is the lynchpin of existence. It is desire.” ~ SSHenry
Have you ever known desire? Have you ever felt the pure unadulterated yearning; that all encompassing searing of the soul that is the heart of love, the inspiration of creativity and the igniter of passion? If you have ever truly known desire – real desire then you will understand what I say when I tell you that it is the true sign of one whose heart is fully open to everything and everyone around them; to every experience, and to all that the universe has to offer.
Indeed, in order to love you have to have the desire to love; the desire to open your heart up to the possibility of being loved in return.
It doesn’t matter if the love being returned to you is genuine; temporary; or even a reflection or echo of the love that you have sent out. It is the loving and the openness to receiving love that is important, and both are possibly only made possible by acting on the desire to love and opening up to being loved in return.
Yes, I know all the movies and romance novels portray desire as something deeply sexual; something that ignites physical attraction and brings the lovers together more often than not against their better judgment. Either that or they portray desire as the first step to obsession. But in truth is that while desire can indeed lead to passion of all kinds (physical, mental and even spiritual) that is not all it is, not by a long shot. And yes, it can lead to obsession if one focuses all of one’s desire on one person or object or experience to the exclusion of everything else.
And it isn’t just love that is fueled by desire, though love is the most powerful of the emotions that desire generates. Desire also powers the engines of creativity. You have to have the desire to express yourself before you ever pick up a pen or a paintbrush and create something bigger than has ever been seen or read before. You have to have the desire to play before you can pick up an instrument and make your heart-song heard.
Oh yes, with enough talent and training anyone can write a coherent sentence or draw a picture or play the notes as they are written. But only desire can inspire you to express your soul through your artistic medium and to create something that expresses to the world the true nature of who and what you are and to open your heart up to the world in return.
But it is not only artists who use desire in their daily lives. Every person who opens their heart up to another; every person who loves first without expecting anything back in return; each of these people is using desire (the desire to be something more than someone who only gives if they get something of equal or greater value back) to make the world a better place. They desperately desire that love be the underlying factor of their reality and they embody that in every action that they take and every word they speak.
And desire is not partial. It can be used for good; to fuel love and strength; creativity and passion. But it can also fuel obsession and greed as well. Like the Tao it is not good or bad in and of itself. It simply is. It is how you choose to use it; how you choose to channel it that matters.
Which brings me to another point; true desire can’t be hoarded, as Yoda said “that way darkness lies.” Keeping your desire bottled up inside of yourself is a sure way to turn your desire into an obsession. To be fully functional desire has to be open to the elements and free, not only as something you do (desiring something) but as an experience (being desired) as well.
Only when you are completely open to knowing and being known; to loving and being loved; to desiring and being desired can you truly be open to every experience that the universe has to offer you; to experiencing your full potential as a human being; to being more you than you ever thought possible.
I want that for you. I want you to have the opportunity to experience desire in its truest and most open form. I want you to become more than you ever thought possible. I want you to experience the joy and wonder that comes from opening yourself up completely to experiencing each moment totally; to loving completely and to being loved in return.
That is my desire.
What’s yours?