Forever lost and found

     I already knew how the book was going to end. I'm pretty sure it was written that way. And still I needed to finish it. Maybe that's the sign of a good book. Or at the very least, a book that's good for you. 

     Only Love is Real is not really my kind of book. Even the title bothers me. I don't dig New Age philosophy or too much metaphysical mumbo jumbo. The idea that this psychologist would take his patients through their past lives using hypnotherapy is not what continuously gnawed at me. The brain is a magical and powerful machine. It's not that I don't believe in the possibility of such things. I just kept wondering why Dr. Brian Weiss felt the need to constantly refer to his older books during the story. You'd think promoting older material would be the last thing on your mind after having lived through such a beautiful and fantastical story.

     But as much as I kept questioning how much of Pedro and Elizabeth's story was really real, I soon realized it didn't matter anyway. This was more than just an interesting tale of reincarnation. It was more than just a book about us. It was a book about me. I was living through it and learning many of its lessons. The idea of spending your life - many lives, even - searching for your soulmate was the reason I was sitting here, now, relating to this very book. All those strange, inexplicable feelings. The feeling you've known someone your whole life. Feeling like an old soul, lonely in your patience. Understanding that some people come to you as students and others as teachers and that sometimes, the person you are with is simply not where you are. And despite all that, having to constantly rediscover that there really is only one kind of love. That the love for your mother is no different than the love for your girlfriend, your best friend or that random stranger you think you met for only a beautiful, fleeting moment. How that love is reciprocated makes all the difference in the world.

     And the only thing you can do in this life is pray you get to share as much of your love as you can. So that maybe one day, in this life or in any other, you can breathe that final sigh of relief when you finally, finally reach home.