Coming Around Again

You can “do” a dance, and it will feel okay and maybe look fine. But when you are “doing” you are outside of the process.  “Doing” the dance is not the same as “being” the dance.  When you become the dance, you are infused with the music and the expression of that music through the movement of your body.  Then you are the dance.

There is a wonderful song by Carly Simon about “doing” life while yearning to “be” that life.  Here are some of the lyrics:

“Coming Around Again” by Carly Simon

I know nothing stays the same

But if you’re willing to play the game

It’s coming around again

Don’t mind if I fall apart

There’s more room in a broken heart

And I believe in love

What else can I do?

I’m so in love with you

These words are so emotional and evocative.  There’s sadness here, but also hope.  There’s sadness for what was, along with a hope of renewal or of maybe finding love again.

It’s true that when your heart has been broken, there is more room; more room for compassion, understanding and, maybe, more love.  More love, not only for others, but for yourself.  When your heart is cracked open, all preconceived notions about what love is supposed to look like are thrown out the window and what is left is what’s real:  love.  It’s the only truth.

Sometimes staying steadfast to the belief in love is like hanging on to a piece of driftwood after a shipwreck. You’re not sure if it’s going to take you to shore. If you believe in its power, there’s really no other thing that can happen. You must and will be carried to land.  You’ll be grateful to be alive.  And there’s a different view from that shore. Changing your perception changes what you see and experience. 

I will never forget sitting in my therapist’s office and saying, “I’m out of ideas.  I’ve done everything I can think of, and nothing has helped.”  That is when I let go.  After that, when I realized all my “doing” was not helping, all I could do is focus on “being” love.  My heart had fractured and there was more room in my heart, for others and for myself, too. 

Believe in love.  It’s the only thing that matters.

The lyrics to “Coming Around Again” by Carly Simon:

Baby sneezes
Mommy pleases
Daddy breezes in
So good on paper
So romantic
So bewildering

I know nothin' stays the same
But if you're willin' to play the game
It's comin' around again
So don't mind if I fall apart
There's more room in a broken heart (broken heart)

Pay the grocer
You fix the toaster
You kiss the host goodbye
Then you break a window
Burn the souffle
Scream the lullaby

I know nothin' stays the same
But if you're willin' to play the game
It's comin' around again
So don't mind if I fall apart
There's more room in a broken heart

And I believe in love
But what else can I do
So in love with you

I know nothin' stays the same
But if you're willin' to play the game
It's comin' around again