The Origami Box

The Piece + Quote That Started It All:

�Love� this love� like the strong and delicate folds of an origami box. It strengthens with each kiss of paper upon paper. And so it is unmade the same way, unfolding day by day, promise by promise- as we unfold ourselves. How to do you deconstruct the house that love built? Corner by corner, vow by vow. Unthinkably alone.� - Jewel, Chasing Down the Dawn

It�s been an interesting past year to say the least. Everyone knew it was coming, and yet no one lived today as if tomorrow would be any different. Finally things are different, and as subtle laughter fills my home again, balanced by early morning conversations that erupt with emotion, I look forward to this new journey, and the peace it will bring. Everyone has their next move laid out. Everyone knows where they are going, and how they will get there. For the first time in a long time, today we know tomorrow will be different, and we are doing something about it. This last month I�m sure, will seem long, and short all at the same time.

I�ve watched a marriage crumble, a family fall apart and began to wonder how I can make the results in my life different. One out of every two couples that gets married, will be divorced in the coming five years. It makes me wonder what has changed. Do people not have the time to commit to marriage anymore? Do people today settle too easily, or is it simply that they don�t know what love is� so the first spark they think they feel they set ablaze, only for it to die out in coming winds. I�m not sure how to make my life different. I�ve learned the simple concepts that respect is important, an equal relationship is important, no one person should give in all the time. I�ve learned that love is a tender, balancing act between what one person wants, and what the other wants as well. Everyone needs to make sacrifices. Everyone needs to communicate. Everyone needs to let go of their dreams sometimes for the dreams of the other. That is what love is all about. Putting forth someone else, so you can watch them flourish. I�ve also learned that drugs and alcohol will never come into my home, and I will never let them. I will never be second best again. I will never let anyone chose something so selfish over me again. I guess the important thing about marriage is simple. Before you get married, learn to respect yourself, realize your dreams, and expect others to respect you and understand those dreams as well. Marriage is always TWO people. Two minds. Somewhere in there lies the key to success. It is not just about you anymore when you marry, and form a family� it is about everyone else as well, and everyone else should be included to some degree in the decision which will impact their lives forever.

This has been a huge change in my life. Something I never want to happen to my own family, my own significant other. I keep thinking about it. Keep looking for the places it went wrong, and the ways it could have been changed. It couldn�t have ever changed though, because it was a one-sided marriage. He drank and nothing beyond that ever got done. My mom was drowned with co-dependency and my dad just sucked down liquor and enjoyed his perfect little wife� until she got a mind of her own, and strength beyond what I thought ever possible. The marriage failed, before it even began.

And now with a fresh start within my grasp, I am starting new, letting go, and dreaming big.