Just Another Forbidden Love Story?… I think not

Natasha Bedingfield, Soulmate. “Who doesn’t long for someone to hold/who knows how to love you without being told”. Many people long for the love that comes naturally, one that you don’t have to work for or have to stress over. That’s the love that we see in movies, in books, in photos, in art. It’s the love that I’ve always been fascinated by. I read stories through the night about true love stories, ones that carried me away from any problems that I was having. As I grew older, I expected those love stories to come true. And even though it hasn’t happened, I know that it is possible. Because if it wasn’t, why would people still consider capturing that kind of love? For example, in the painting above, Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss; the love depicted there has so much power and intimacy that one had to have witnessed it firsthand.

I think the problem that people have with love is not it’s lack of truth; love will always exist in beautiful ways. It’s the outcome. Take Romeo and Juliet, who killed themselves because they were not able to be together. Outside of their story, relationships that people have every day commonly have an element of forbidden-ness (if that’s a word) to them. In the end, their relationships do not work out because there’s a barrier in the way. In terms of movies, from Save the Last Dance to A Walk to Remember, the love stories that people idealize and begin to have end up struggling or end in separation, because some obstacle causes conflict between the couple. But…people still write about it, people still take pictures of it, people still draw it, or plan beautiful weddings to capture love’s essence; why…because love is too powerful to let die. It still has to be kept alive. As Lord Tennyson wrote in Memoriam A.H.H. OBIIT, ” ‘Tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all”.

That’s what makes Will and Lyra’s love so magical. Their story takes the Adam and Eve story and adds another dimension to it, one that brings out the true dynamics of their love. They were able to grow together and love each other, through stages in their lives, and still be able to make their relationship work in spite of the separation they would have to face for the rest of their lives. As children, their love was uncomplicated, and wild, and beautiful- because they didn’t let those obstacles stand in the way. They didn’t turn to other people and deny the feelings they had for each other. They looked at the end of their physical relationship, and laughed…because they knew that it had no match against the power and tenacity of their love for each other. With Lyra and Will, “True love did conquer all”. I hope that one day I can follow their example, as we all should. After all, love is too special to waste or give up; it’s what makes the world turn ’round. So listen to Natasha Bedingfield’s song “Soulmate” and understand the power in having one. Don’t give up on true love, because it’s out there.