To Love Is to Release

My love exists

without needing to possess her.

I never wanted her to stay

so that I could feel safe,

or so that I would never feel alone.

For real love is freedom

the freedom of the beloved,

and the freedom of the one who loves.

Had I asked her to stay

out of expectation, obligation,

or fear of loneliness,

it would not have been love.

It would have been a dependency.

And dependency

is only another name for a burden.

So I loved her, and I walked away.

Because my love

was never about her and me forever.

My love had begun to feel

like a cage around her dreams,

her freedom, and the life waiting ahead.

So I chose to love her,

and then release her to become fully herself.

I did not want her to stay

so I would not lose her,

or so I could feel complete.

Love built upon fear is not love at all.

So I loved, I served, and then I let go.

Perhaps, by stepping away

at the right moment,

I offered her the greatest gift I had,

space for her soul to breathe.

My love is not possession.

It is service, it is upliftment.

It is the quiet courage

to free the one I love,

even when it breaks my own heart.

I loved boldly, I loved sincerely.,

Now I love without clinging.

For sometimes the highest expression of love

is not staying.

it is having the strength to let go.

The greatest act of my love

is giving her the space to become whole,

even if my departure

is what makes it possible.

By

Sanji-Paul Arvind