A Rare and Beautiful Sight

From the Merriam-Webster dictionary…..

in·no·cent

adjective \ˈi-nə-sənt\

: not guilty of a crime or other wrong act

: not deserving to be harmed

: lacking experience with the world and the bad things that happen in life

 

Today I saw a rare and beautiful sight. It was sweet and it was pure. What made it this way was the fact that it was completely unsuspecting. It hadn’t yet developed preconceived ideas. It had no agenda. It hadn’t put rules into play that would make it ugly. It didn’t feel the need to fight for attention. It just floated around the atmosphere and relished in its creation. It hovered over its recipients and infused them with its euphoria. It was content to just “be” for a while. It was completely innocent.

I sat and observed a young couple today. They were by no means making a public display of their relationship. For all intents and purposes, most people wouldn’t have even known that they were in a relationship. For the unsuspecting crowd, they were just two people who happened to inhabit a central area of space for a short while. They were not alone. They were with a crowd of friends.

As I sat and watched this young duo, there was no doubt in my mind that they were on the cusp of a grand adventure. I’m not even sure they realize it. You see, I saw the way they looked at each other. It wasn’t just glances in passing or the casual eye contact while having conversation. It was the WAY they looked at each other. Almost as if each look was actually asking a question. I’m not sure what the question really could have been. It was just a look that was eager for an answer of some sort. It was a look that said, “Whatever you have to say is genuinely important to me!”

When one or the other would stand to walk away for a moment, it was that lingering length of time it took for their eyes to leave the other and return to the crowd at hand.  It was the way that they watched the other unobserved. Taking in the details of the others face, of their hair, of the way they smiled, of the things they did with their hands. Intently paying attention to how the other acted and reacted to the conversations going around the table. They were reading each other. And completely without their own knowledge of it, they were storing this information into a new file in their brain marked, “very important stuff.”

Amidst the blushes and small smiles that frequently made an appearance were the moments of complete beguilement that would transport them to a place that no one else was allowed to go. They only lasted for a few seconds but they were completely understood by the other. Maybe memories of times spent together, maybe something said that caused a spark of shared recognition over a past event. It was beautiful!

Yes, today I saw a rare and beautiful sight. It was sweet and it was pure. I hope that the world will leave it alone. I hope that Merriam-Webster continues to prevail with its definition of the word “innocent”, that this rare and beautiful sight, lacking experience with the world and the bad things that happen in life remain undeserving to be harmed!