Anthem

As I contemplate this second go-around with my love from New England, there are still a lot of questions, but there's also a lot that feels settled. We both know now, in a way we didn't before, why our love is working for us in ways that our previous loves didn't. And that's helpful. It's huge, even.

I really enjoyed the Modern Love column this week, which was about embracing love again with the same man too, only in their case, they fell out of love and then back in (in our case, we never fell out). She makes reference in the column to this incredible Leonard Cohen song:

The birds they sang
at the break of day
Start again
I heard them say
Don't dwell on what
has passed away
or what is yet to be.
Ah the wars they will
be fought again
The holy dove
She will be caught again
bought and sold
and bought again
the dove is never free.

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.

We asked for signs
the signs were sent:
the birth betrayed
the marriage spent
Yeah the widowhood
of every government --
signs for all to see.

I can't run no more
with that lawless crowd
while the killers in high places
say their prayers out loud.
But they've summoned, they've summoned up
a thundercloud
and they're going to hear from me.

Ring the bells that still can ring ...

You can add up the parts
but you won't have the sum
You can strike up the march,
there is no drum
Every heart, every heart
to love will come
but like a refugee.

Leonard Cohen is such an incredible songwriter, and this song is such a great example of his lyrical prowess, not to mention really great advice:

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.

It's not about everything being perfect, or everything being just like you planned. It's about embracing the love while we still can -- even with, or maybe especially with, all of its cracks. Because in our case at least, all of those cracks have taught us something, something that allows our love to be more lighted now than it ever was before:

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.
That's how the light gets in.
That's how the light gets in.