“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” – Henry David Thoreau

There exists in all of mankind a deep-seeded yearning to become something more than their ordinary selves, to cast aside the lot dealt to them by Life and to truly relish each intake of breath as something rich and wondrous.  These men take their big thoughts and epic dreams, get out of bed in the morning, kick open the front door . . . and run headlong into the reality of a world that has no room for their delusions of grandeur.

And so, the common man will succumb to the dictations of his society, fold his dreams up into a nice little package and go about his normal life as a pedestrian in a grey metropolis.  Every once in a while he can take his dream out of his pocket, look it over, turn it in the light to see it from all sides, and then put it away with a sigh.

While this ordinary fellow’s life goes on in quiet desperation, his next-door neighbor fulfills his dreams.  A few brave souls, in complete contradiction to society’s platitudes, eke out a full life as pioneers on the frontier of a new existence.  In the face of a world ruled by rich, fat, corporate cowboys riding horses of chromium steel, these men of consequence uphold the rare virtues of chivalry, bravery, romance and imagination.  They discover a higher emotional ground and give names to uncharted regions of the soul as they carve out the way to their destiny.

Along with the desire for a lead role on the stage of life is the need for love and companionship, neither of which man can escape.  The face of a young lady decorates the inner halls of each man’s heart.  The nature of the man will determine whether he shall seek out the woman of his dreams or remain content to stare at the cold image of someone whom he shall always see, but never touch.  Perhaps he will find someone else, but he will live with that image of love lost forever emblazoned in his heart.

Romance, in the truest and deepest sense, requires a man brave enough to make himself vulnerable and acknowledge his need for intimacy.  Women long for these men to enter their lives.

They wait in quiet anticipation, unwilling to let go of their romantic dreams of a prince who will come to their rescue.  Some settle for less and live contented lives with men of mediocrity, but the patient ones will someday look out their tower window to see that their prince has finally come.

While the prince and damsel ride off into the sunset, the ordinary man watches them go with an aching heart.  But the poet feverishly scribbles down the account of what he has seen in order to capture it with ink and paper.  The poet, a noble scribe of the higher ideals, uses his quiet desperation as a fuel to give fire to his writing.  He chronicles his thoughts, feelings, desires and experiences to contribute a verse to the great, ongoing saga of romance.

The true romantic maintains a balance of courage and quiet desperation.  While having the bravery to act upon his dreams, he holds onto his meekness and nervous anticipation so that his hunger for virtue is never quite sated.  For him, every laugh, every tear, and every kiss will seem as the very first, enjoyed in its purest form.

Time does not forget these men; those who made manifest in their lives the deep life call of all humanity; those who left behind their quiet desperation and changed their dreams into reality; those who dared to love . . . and dared to be loved.