Reciprocity

There's an English idiom I've always loved: "It takes two to tango." It means exactly what it says—two are needed for the dance. In other words, some things lie beyond the reach of one person alone, and so do the responsibilities that come with them. I find myself thinking more and more about reciprocity. About how rare and precious it is to be part of something together.

Relationships, companionship, even the sharing of your loneliness with another—these can all be mutual. It's not so difficult, is it? To light a bulb when someone sits in darkness. Your light can push back his shadow. Or at least soften it. I know that. The important thing is that the feeling gets divided equally between you. It feels more honest somehow. All that's required is presence—not necessarily physical. Emotional, rather.

To feel more deeply.
To feel the other person.
To keep your hands open when his pain spills over and stains everything.
To have a handkerchief ready for tears that have just begun to fall.
To be there when someone comes home and needs no words at all.

Only your quiet presence. Some Wednesday night around nine. Or a Friday. Does it matter which? Just be there. To share the air with another heartbeat. Reciprocity lives even across distance. When you are miles away from someone, but you think of them. You simply wonder what they're doing and hope nothing harms them. That too is reciprocal—because though your body isn't there, your mind, your worry, your spirit travels to them.

Because you care. Because a person can be a fortress, a concrete pillar, a volcano of feeling. Yes, that's beautiful. But what if there's no spark that makes you rush to the door? That makes you ring the bell with impatient fingers? Because somewhere beyond that threshold lives someone with whom you want to give some portion of yourself. To kiss his eyes. To hold his hands. To lose yourself in his gaze. A place where you can walk stripped of every scar. Carrying only your feelings.

Where you can cry without fear.
Where you can kiss without breaking.
Where you can be hurt, yet no one truly wounds you.
That is what reciprocity is.
It is warm there.
And it is very special.

I wish you reciprocity. For a feeling. And for the sharing of it.