Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Love is a Leap of Faith







Imagine yourself standing on a precipice, your feet firmly planted on the solid ground of being a single person. In front of you is a deep gorge called romance. The swirling winds rushing up from the depths below lift your hair up, making it dance around your face; leaving you with the feeling that should you jump, you would fly. It’s exciting, exhilarating, and enticing. Across the gorge is a new land called love, shrouded in a fine mist making it look mysterious yet inviting. A place you hope to land after swooping and swirling in the winds of romance.

Some stand forever on the brink, afraid to leap into the space between being single and being in love. Maybe they took the leap before and crashed to the bottom of the gorge, getting bruised and beaten. Or maybe they have other restraints holding them back—family obligations, friends, jobs, past experiences—all stopping them from taking that leap.

Because that is what love is…it’s a leap of faith. You jump into the gorge of romance and hope to make it to the other side. The leap can start off like the most exciting adventure with you soaring above the clouds only to come crashing down before reaching the other side. The trick is having the ability to brush yourself off and try again. Only a very few lucky people meet their soul mate on their first try. Anyone who has ever been in love knows that taking that leap of faith into the great void takes courage and an optimistic outlook.

This leap of faith into love is the cornerstone of romance. Our characters are usually stuck on solid ground when suddenly something happens that has them teetering on the precipice of love. What or who holds them back from taking that leap? What happens when they do take a chance on love? Do they soar or plummet? This is the stuff of every great romance.

That’s why for me, the greatest leap of faith is deciding to fall love. I say ‘deciding’ because it is a decision. Will you let this person into your life? Will you give yourself, heart and soul, knowing this is the one person who can hurt you the most? The answers to these questions and dozens more can determine whether or not you will find your soul mate and have your own happily ever after. I had to take this leap of faith when I met future second husband. After a devastating divorce, it wasn’t easy to leap into romance again. I wondered, "Would land safely on the other side, the side of love, or come crashing down again?" But I took the leap and I'm glad I did. That's me and my husband in the picture above. We will be celebrating our ten year anniversary this year.

Each of my characters must decide, leap or not to leap. Of course, they all eventurally do, because what kind of romance would it be if no one ever took a chance on love.

4 comments:

Sarah Raplee said...

Thank you for the insightful post, Christie! I agree that taking a chance on love is the greatest leap of faith possible, especially if you've been hurt in the past. Falling in love means changing as a person - putting someone first who wasn't there before,changing your identity from single to committed, risking your heart.

Diana McCollum said...

Great post!

Paty Jager said...

That's a great way to look at love and writing romance!

Judith Ashley said...

Hi Christie,

Your post reminds me of standing on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon with the North Rim in the distance. It is beautiful and beckoning but so far away - and in between are jagged rocks and a swift flowing river and rapids.

The world would be a very different place "if no one ever took a chance on love."

I think romance writers give the reader who is standing on the precipe hope and encouragement to take that leap.