Volim stare priče u kojima je ljubljeni dijelom iz ljudskog svijeta, a dijelom iz životinjskog carstva, i stvari nisu baš onakve kavima se čine. Zaljubljeni bog postaje čovjekom, divlji su pripitomljeni, strašni postaju najnježniji, ružni nose stvarnu ljepotu u sebi. Ženu iskušava Božica. Ili se udaje za medvjeda. Ili on oženi tuljana. Putuju iza svih maskiranja i krinki kako bi riskirali plemenitost prave ljepote. Poenkad je to putovanje u dušu, ponekad je to putovanje kroz svijet s velikim usponima i dramom. I priča može biti sretna ili tužna – postoji tuga u dubokoj ljubavi, tuga u centru radosti jer ljubav, kao i rađanje i smrt, širom otvara srce, širom otvara san ljepote da otkirje neku drugu ljepotu, veću i divljiju i dragocjenijiu od one koju već poznajemo. Te ljubavi nisu o “ljubavi na prvi pogled” ili “sretno su živjeli zauvijek”. To su slojevite priče o tugovanju i strpljenju i hrabrosti i snazi i transformaciji.
iz Zapisi o potrebi za ljepotom, J. Ruth Gendler
I love the old stories in which the beloved is partly of the human world, partly of the animal kingdom, and things are not quite what they seem. In love the god becomes human, the wild one is tamed, the fierce one is the most gentle, the ugly one carries true beauty. The woman is tested by the Goddess. Or she marries a bear. Or he marries a seal. Travel beyond all the disguises and masks to risk the nobility of true beauty. Sometimes the journey is inward within the soul, and sometimes the journey is played out in the world with great flourish and drama. And the story may be happy or sad–there is a sadness in deep love, a sadness at the center of joy because love, like birth and death, breaks open the heart, breaks open the dream of beauty to reveal some other beauty, bigger and wilder and more precious than we knew. These love stories are not about “love at first sight” or “happily ever after.” They are layered tales of grief and patience, courage, strength, and transformation.
from Notes on the Need for Beauty, J. Ruth Gendler
