On Serenity Part 1

A lot of my posts of late have been about my short comings and the things I did wrong in my relationship with my lady.  The support I have received from my friends was quite unexpected and humbling.  Saturday I had brunch with a good friend that was suppose to be about a potential project we could collaborate on.  It quickly turned to a conversation about my Lady.

One of the questions they asked me asked me was a seemingly innocent inquiry which prompted a flood of emotion.  The question was, "what is it you like about her?"  Where do I begin?  My initial response was the fact that there is something about my Lady that makes me force myself to slow down.  In an effort to grow my businesses, if not just keep them afloat, I am always going 100 mph.  It's quite stressful sometimes and I don't often take the time to take in the beauty all around us.

My Lady is very artistic, she is quite the painter and photographer.  The distance between us made it hard to spend time together, but when we did it was spent strolling museums.  My favorite memory of her is walking through the various venues in the Museum District in Houston.  I love art as well, but never took the time on my own to view all the wonderful exhibits that come through Seattle.  Being with her forced me to slow down, put aside business for a time and just enjoy life.  I'll never forget the kiss she gave me in the antiquities exhibit in Houston after sharing my favorite quote from Aristotle, "We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act but a habit."

I've also never been able to sleep for more than four or five hours a night.  My mind races with all the things I need to do, ideas for new ventures or client projects.  I've also never been able to sleep well in foreign environments when I travel.  Yet for some reason when she was next to me sleep came quickly and soundly.  When I visited her in Houston after not seeing her in over 15 years from the very first night sharing a bed with her I was at peace, I was home. 

The serenity that surrounded me by her mere presence was amazing.  For the first time I can recall I had a peaceful night's sleep that was not induced by shear exhaustion.  It actually scared me a little, I had never experienced anything like it before.  Maybe it was that fear that ultimately caused me to close off and put up the shield that only allowed her to see the mask I wore to protect myself.