histoire
A couple thousand years ago Publilius Syrus, an Assyrian slave turned Roman freeman, suggested that on the journey of life an agreeable companion is as good as a carriage. I love that word, agreeable. It assumes a certain equality, it assumes a desire to find a way that is to everybody’s liking. It assumes a predisposition in each party to care about the happiness of the other party.
A common history contributes to being an agreeable companion, of course. The sharing of life’s intimate mundane experiences may not be exciting, but it offers comfort. Nobody can deny the intoxicating attractions of passion; passion burns white hot and intense, but only in short bursts. Passion is a marvelous sprinter, but life is a marathon. For the run of years, one seeks a carriage. For the run of years, one seeks…and seeks to be…an agreeable companion.
The ability to sit quietly, pleasantly alone in your thoughts but secure in the awareness you’re not alone in the world, is a product of shared history. It is a comfort and a blessing. It is a consummation devoutly to be wished. It is most agreeable.
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