D.B. Woodside Instagram – Part one: Last night the stars aligned & I fell into an unexpected deep sleep where I met a new friend. He sat bewildered & oddly bedimmed as the planets swirled around our heads. I implored my new friend to share with me the reason why he was so despondent on this magnificent night. My new friend quietly shared a story about their misanthropic lover. Their beloved & beguiling imp. There I sat. Respectfully & quietly until he completed this dismal tale. Dear Reader, due to the festive time of year I should warn you now that this is not a tale of joy & whimsical delight. This is not a story of star crossed lovers but of one that held on to a dream that was impossible from the outset. He looked at me & so I began. My new friend, your beguiling imp can not love. Oh, I have no doubt that they sincerely believe they can. There lies their sadness. Sadness that will consume all who enter their orbit. They believe that they are forever one person away from romantic nirvana. I informed my new friend that to continue embarking on this journey with this beguiling imp would always lead them back to a dusty mirage. Your beloved imp will try to convince you that you are to blame for all their self-inflicted woes. That everything in their life would be bliss if you were to simply say, do, be… THIS. What is “THIS,” you might ask? THIS… is nothing more than air. THIS… is their blistering, blinding anger and resentment of life that needs to go somewhere, their unhappiness. THIS… is the inability to treat the bleeding lacerations on their soul. So. They blame you, my new friend. You are easy. You are convenient. For you are there. You seek to communicate. I respect that. But that is not what they seek. They seek complete capitulation or complete repudiation. Nothing less will ever do. No, my new friend. This will not do. Communication with someone you truly love & respect is not impossible. Possibly tiring? I grant you that. Sometimes difficult? Of course, let us not be naive. But repeatedly, exhaustively impossible? No, my new friend. No. You seek love. Love is what they say they seek but they seek adoration. To be worshipped. That is not love. Not a love that lasts.