Heart Strings

Friend, the connections we form with the people around us are vital.

To many these connections may be merely visceral. Connections defined by an emotional response between two people. However, for me, I feel something much more substantial connecting me to you.

A strand, a sting, that runs from my heart to yours.

Japanese legend describes something similar in the story of the Red String of Fate. This legend tells that there is an invisible red string connected to our pinkie finger that stretches out to intertwine with the red thread of other people we are fated and predestined to meet in life.

These are ties that can be stretched, tangled, damaged, but will never be broken.

Friend, I don’t feel the tugs on my pinkie finger, but I certainly feel them on my heart.

When I visualize my heart I see it battered and bruised. The evidence of old wounds. There would be signs, also, of my attempt to protect it; an old broken stone wall forgotten, and a battered shield lying to waste.

However, your eyes wouldn’t focus on these things. Instead, they would see the sinuous fibers, an infinity of colors, running from my heart to those hearts of all of those that I am, and have been, connected to.

Looking closely, you would see there are some broken strands, dangling as if lost. These are reminders of injuries long past. Other strands pulse with a light that seems close to going out, still others have rotted and festered. For friend, unlike the legend of the Red String of Fate, I do believe that there are connections that are only meant to last for a brief time. To teach a lesson. To reveal a truth. While broken and severed the reminder of that connection will last a lifetime.

There are those other connections that pulse with vibrancy, clearly showing the strength of that bond. These are the connections that matter. These are the connections that last a lifetime. These are the connections that I feel so strongly in my heart.

A tug when I disappoint you.

A vibration when you’re hurting.

A warming hum when you’re happy and satisfied.

If I could draw all of this, you would see that you and I are tied together — connected by a string that runs from your heart to mine.

Quite possibly I don’t need to illustrate it for you.

Maybe you feel it too.

Always,

Your Trusted Friend ❤