this is simple, this is basic

Download 14_if_you_could_only_see_your_eyes.wma

This is simple, this is basic.
There's no need to complicate it.

You're beautiful...
and I love you.

If I live for ten forevers, here's a moment I'll remember,
just watching you - in this crowded room.

No one else can see through me,
and see the heart that your heart sees.

This is perfect, this is basic.
Words would only complicate it.

You're beautiful...
and I love you.
Alice Peacock, "If You Could Only See Your Eyes"

- 4 U D

_________________________
Soul mates.

This subject has been on my mind as I've been working on sample chapters for Raising Riley, the sequel to Waking Emma. Some of you have been asking me about Riley's story for a while now. And the truth is that while the proposal for this story has been complete for a couple of years, I've needed time. I guess you could say the storyline has been simmering" - allowing time, content, and the readiness of my own soul and spirit to mingle together until just the right time to pour it all out in book form.

Riley's story is all about soul mates. But maybe not the kind of soul mates you may think. Riley's soulmate is very real and neither doubt the other's existence or their importantance in one another's lives. But it just so happens that God's will leads Riley in one direction and Ethan in another.

Does this mean they aren't indeed soulmates?

Does this mean that they must be mistaken about God's will?

Most movies and novels point us - the viewer and/or reader - toward the thought that one lone person exists somewhere in the world around us and - if we can just find him or her - our lives will be complete, our hearts content, and our futures secure.

This scenario tends to cause the romantics to sigh with satisfaction and longing and the skeptics to snort with derision.

What is a soul mate?

Is it a buzz word being tossed around by New Agers and romance publishers in order to increase book sales and seminar fees? Is soulmate just another term for true love or is it something else - something more, something bigger and deeper?

I'm thinking it's the latter, but I'm just one gal and I clearly don't have all the answers.

If you browse the Web, searching under the term "soulmate," you'll find testimonials of "How I Found My Soulmate on the Web", and pointers to Personals Ads for you to search for a personal soulmate (okay, even I am snorting with derision at that!), but you won't find much hard and fast information on soulmates or much discussion on what a soulmate is.

According to Thomas Moore, a soul mate "is someone to whom we feel profoundly connected, as though the communication and communing that take place between us were not the product of intentional efforts, but rather a divine grace. This kind of relationship is so important to the soul that many have said there is nothing more precious in life."

I don't think that there is an unlimited supply of soulmates out there for each of us, but I do believe that each of us has one or more persons who can help us to grow and become all that we can be, who will support, honor, shelter, guide, serve, succor, challenge, adore, and love unreservedly. This may come in the form of a friend, a neighbor, or a peer and it may have nothing at all to do with the tradional thinking of soulmates.

I also think that a lot of folks manage in some way to miss out on these relationships. Therefore they are always searching for the ideal relationship, the ideal partner, the best friend.

A soulmate, if you will.

And then - someday - you might actually meet your soulmate. Like Riley did. You share that connection that defies Webster and his trillion-and-one different definitions regarding the heart and all of its capabilities. There is no rhyme, no reason. It just is.

This is the person with whom you don't need words. You can stand across the room and communicate without one word being spoken. It's more palpable than a look. More intimate than a touch. It defies time, space, and circumstances. It remains solid throughout any and every obstacle thrown in its path.

You can go weeks, maybe even months, without one real conversation and then catch up in mere moments as the time spent apart just falls away between you. You go through each day in confidence knowing that the other person is on your side, has your back, and will be there. They may not be in the next room, the next town, or even in the next state. But they're somewhere much better. They are ingrained on your heart. Their name is always safe on your lips. They're a part of you and you want nothing more than to see them happy and fulfilled in life.

Even if that same life has led you in two different directions.

Riley and Ethan's connection is in it for the long haul. It will never end. Not because there are never any difficulties, or any hurt feelings, or any misunderstandings. But, rather, because it's love in its truest form. It's free, it's obedient, it's well within it's rightful borders.

This type of connection has the power to bond two people without them even being "together". It's not about the "getting", but about the "giving". It's lending support, encouragement, and the sheer, breathtaking knowledge that "I'm here for you. Always. Without question."

It's simple.

It's basic.

Words would only complicate it.

But it's beautiful.

And I love it.