Personal Story
GIVING UP ON LOVE By Afifa Aza
“Love gives naught but itself and takes naught from itself. Love possesses not nor would it be possessed; For Love is sufficient unto love....
W
hen you love you should not say, “God is in my heart”, but rather, “I am in the heart of God.” And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course. Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself. But if you love and most needs have desires, let these be your desires...” Khalil Gibran One of the most painful times in my life was when the relationship with my partner from high school ended. It was miserable. I lost weight. There is nothing I could have done to make them stay. I 88 | Issue 10, December 2014
experienced a period of disillusioned experiments. My desire was to rekindle some kind of love wherever there was attraction. For the most part it went badly. A number of sexual encounters, probably the most adventurous of my 20 something years. Thinking about this makes me think about my parents. Their story of love intrigues me. My parents have been husband and wife living in the same house before I knew myself. I am so horrible with details so I couldn’t tell you how many years that is. My father is a man of little excitement and simple routine. He left for work by 7:00 and was home by