The riches of our lives, even when we are not searching for it, is like the journey of Santiago, the young Andalusian shepherd boy in Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist. The treasure is always nearby, always close. We just don't have the eyes for it.
 
The treasure is often our search for meaning, sometimes it is the clarity we seek of what the fulcrum of our life is, so often it is our despair to put together the disparate parts of our lives into one knowing compass.
 
Most often it is our search for a person who gives meaning to our lives.
 
And we have to wander through our days and our dullness, the inequities and confusions, the seemingly directionless pull of our lives, the cornucopia of choices, or the dearth of choice. And we return home, tired, our ties crunched, our spirits defeated. No balm, no gentle commiseration, no time with the closest to us, seems to make a difference. And we keep searching, keep looking outwards, keep wondering what will give solace, give intent, bring significance. Who would be the compass and the companion, the commiserater and the catcher in the rye?
 
And in our search for an adult cradle, even as we lie curled on the lap of someone we care for,  laying bare our existential issues, we forget that possibly, this is the person who is both the destination and the means, the person who could hold us and lead us, the one who both understands and scolds, the one who is the wind beneath our wings and the first step of beauty in our lives.
 
And in that realization, lies the gorgeous reconciliation of our search, as we realize that who we thought of as an accessory, a necessity, a cultural perk, a socio-economic order, a social necessity, often a burden, an enforced liability in the form of a gift, is actually purpose and direction, succour and signal, a parachute and a mattress.
 
And in that realization we are like the prodigal son. Our return becomes then just a realization.
 

If you liked this poem, consider listening to these other poems on elusive love - 

Before Bruises Become Wounds
Old Poems for Old Loves
Bella's Meadow


Follow me on Instagram at @sunilgivesup.

Get in touch with me on [email protected]
 
The details of the music used in this episode are as follows -

Der Kristall Ending by Sascha Ende
Der Kristall the Glade by Sascha Ende

Link: https://filmmusic.io/en/song/der-kristall-ending
Link: https://filmmusic.io/en/song/der-kristall-the-glade
Licence:  https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

 

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