(this is not the painting I buried on 08/July/2010, but a different one. To see me “Hiding the work of my wife”, click HERE )
I have just had dinner, now I am having some coffee and contemplating the painting in front of me: it was put in a river and left there for a year, waiting for nature to give the final touch to the painter’s work.
Half of the painting was carried off by the waters and bad weather, so the edges are all uneven, but even so I can still see part of the beautiful red rose painted on a golden background. I know the artist. I remember 2003, when together we went to a forest in the Pyrenees, discovered the creek – which at that moment was dry – and hid the canvas underneath the stones that covered the river bed.
I know the artist, Christina Oiticica. At this very moment she is physically at a distance of 8,000 kilometers, and at the same time she is in everything around me. That makes me happy: even after 29 years of marriage, the love is more intense than ever before. Never did I imagine that this would happen: I had been in three relationships that did not work out right and was convinced that eternal love did not exist until she came along – on a Christmas afternoon, like a present sent by a angel.
We went to the movies.
We made love that same evening.
I thought to myself: “this won’t last long”. For the first two years I was always expecting one of us to give up the relationship. For the following five years I went on thinking that it was just an arrangement, that in a short while each of us would go our own way. I had convinced myself that any commitment of a more serious nature would deprive me of my “freedom” and stop me experiencing all that I wanted.
Twenty-nine years on, I am still free – because I discovered that love never enslaves us. I am free to turn my head and watch her sleeping at my side – that is the photo I have on my mobile phone. I am free for us to go out, enjoy a stroll, go on talking, discussing – and occasionally arguing, as always.
I am free to love as I have never loved before, and that makes a great difference in my life.
Let’s go back to the painting and the river: it was the summer of 2002, I was already a well-known writer, I had money, I felt that my basic values had not changed, but how could I be absolutely certain?
By testing.
We rented a small room in a two-star hotel in France, where we began to spend five months each year. The wardrobe could not get any bigger, so we had to limit our clothes. We wandered through the forests, dined out, spent hours in conversation and went to the movies every day. The simplicity of it all confirmed for us that the most sophisticated things in the world are precisely those that are within everyone’s reach. All that I needed for my work was a portable computer.
But it so happens that my wife is … a painter.
And painters need gigantic studios to produce and keep their work. By no means did I want her to sacrifice her vocation for me, so I proposed renting a place. However, looking around, seeing the mountains, the valleys, the rivers and the lakes, the forests, she thought: why don’t I work here? And why not let nature work with me?
And thus was born the idea of “storing” the canvases in the open air. I carried my laptop and went on writing. She knelt on the grass and painted. A year later, when we removed the first paintings, the result was original, magnificent.
We lived in that small hotel for two unforgettable years. She continued to bury her canvases, no longer out of necessity but because she had discovered a new technique. The Amazon, Mumbai, the Road to Santiago, Lublijana, Miami. Today she is far away, but tomorrow or next week she will be close again, sleeping at my side. Content, because her work is beginning to be recognized all over the world.
At this moment I see only the rose. And I thank the angel that gave me two presents on that Christmas of 1979: the ability to open up my own heart, and the right person to receive it.
CHRISTINA OITICICA HOME PAGE
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Thank you Paulo. My love and I are currently apart, knowing that despite some devastatingly difficult times we love each other, we are part of each other, what we have is enduring and hoping that we will find a way. This beautiful story of your & Christina’s love gives us inspiration. You have my gratitude, thank you for sharing. God bless. xxx
Dear Paulo
In order to give the Golden Rose a chance to develop and grow it needs to breathe freedom independent of far away but still close to the heart and soul.
Paulo you are a lucky boy as have found the Golden Rose.:-)
The mind immersed in nature gets stirred by every move she makes. God bless.
This rose touches my heart.
It is so fragile…..shows the fragility of our life on earth.
Thank you, dear Paulo, for the picture
and your wife for her inspired work.
(visited her homepage after your anounciation of the exhibition in Stockholm)
By the way: didn´t I see this canvas on a picture of your study?
Dear Paulo
Ys u should again again thank angels for finding true love. Love always grows with the passage of time . It is tested again and again by time and society. U survived its great . I am in the process of finding it and testing that will my love survive the acid test. Hoping for the best.
Never leave, never go, spirit and soul you’ll never know. Take my mind somewhere new, but please keep my heart close to you. Let us dance, prance and glance at our passion that sets sail into the night right out of fashion. I know my mind is full of betrayal, so why bother in washing the dirt that lingers from under my nails. Some people watch, some people learn, but best of all some people turn.
to open up my own heart, and the right person to receive it…simply beautiful…
The stories you write have enabled me to reach unafraid each day. I’m just now realizing that your books are reading me, instead of the other way around.
You are lucky Paulo, to find a love that really sets free instead of binding. Even after 3 previous failures.
Give her my regards… you’re really meant to each others :)
How utterly original, unique and beautiful. Your words of love for Christina have fire, water and beauty. How fantastic to marry the art within it’s own element. The outcome is pure and mystical. Thank you…Julie
I hope that , my husband describe me as u dscribe ur wife even if it’s for day ….. Hounstly I envy ur wife…….
Oh my god… amazing =)
Dear Paulo,
Thank you for sharing it with us.As always,beautiful.
God bless you and Christina.
Thank you for everything,
Much respect and love,
Chrissa
I hope this time the heart will be seen…
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COn amor de mi hijo José y mío para ustedes
i love every single word you write. you touch. u make me dream and wonder. thank you
Simply beautiful!
i paint. great idea, leaving the canvas touch by nature
soul spirit nature. totaly LOVE. touching.
the ability to open up my own heart, and the right person to receive it… silence.
i paint. great idea, leaving the canvas touch by nature
soul spirit nature. like your love. totaly LOVE. touching.
é tudo que acredito quando participo da realização do sonho de duas almas que unem. Obrigado!
You are blessed! Blessings.
Lovely, love you both.
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I lasted more than an hour with my son creating a heart of hearts for you, and when we saw what had become of it, we laughed over and over to not cry…
Now that I noticed everything you write is aligned to the left I’ll try another tecnique…
ITs beautiful reading this has brought tears in my eyes because thats the kind of love i want but never got it so i thought never existed but now i believe i will get the same love someday. Thank you.
your books your writings have always been so inspiring for me. I recently read Zahir and now this. I wish God to inspire you with more of his blessing so that you tell us…Greetings from Istanbul Turkey. If you ever think of visiting please contact me.
WOW!
Im really happy for u… the essence of true love is really magical. N I like that idea of urs of mixing up wid nature.. thats really fantastic. Never heard before sumthng lyk ‘Nature build Painting’! Truely liked it.
Blessed Be!
Shreya
I am grateful for your work. I think it is by no accident that I stumbled upon you. I read a story by an actor here-Will Smith who praised your book The Alchemist. I was curious, so I had to read it. You have opened up a whole new world for me filled with hope as I have continued to begin reading your other books. I had cancer last year at 49 and began to re-evaluate my life. Your books further changed my thinking. Sometimes they make me very sad, because I understand as I reflect on my life. But I also have not given up, though still lost in what direction to go-I am at least searching.I can relate as I imagine many others can about relationships, I pray God sends an angel my way. You help me stay positive when thinks are so dim I can barely see. Though you may never read this, you could not begin to imagine the inspiration you are to me at this time in my life. Your books are a special gift.
Paulo,
Your post has made me think of the future in a brighter way. At this moment, I am stuck in an endless cycle of unrequited love, chasing someone whom pulls at my heartstrings, yet will not share her life with me. This post, about yourself, love and the love you share with your wife has given me faith that someday, it will happen for me, when it is supposed to, using an old cliche, if allowed. Thank you for sharing this.
I hv been in a relationship n the person ditched me. after maling such great promises, he left me. now i find it hard to cope up because he was the one who had given me a new life after I was once shattered. I got him back once but he left me. The fear about our uncertain future and my addiction to him prevents me from being “free” . U r lucky. I hope someday he loves me back just like u love ur wife.
Just beautiful!
Paulo, thank you for your honest and the true freedom in Love. May God bless you.
Quiero llorar, pero de emoción. Quiero sentir un amor como el de ustedes, Paulo. Dios los bendiga.
A huge thank you to you, Paulo and to Cristina, for listening to and following the promptings of your hearts and for supporting each other. That’s the key behind a successful and loving relationship. It’s not an easy task staying together when the plates of each partner are filled with many aspirations. You want to achieve your dreams, but you also have to strive to keep the love and the patience to aide your partner in achieving her/his dreams. Again, not an easy thing to do when many of us are selfish.
I get just as much joy standing in the background while my husband’s dreams are being actualized as I do when my own are brought to light.
A blessing to both of you…Paulo with “O Aleph” coming out….and Cristina with your show in Santiago de Compostela.
The Goddess smiles on both of you :-)
Love and warm blue light to you,
Lainee
Beautiful, amazing!!
Your words stroke my heart, thank You for sharing this story.
Original paintings.
Good luck to You and Your wife!
Dear Paulo,
Thank you so much for sharing for this beautiful story! :-)
Love your work.
God bless you.
Beautiful tale of love…. kudos!
its a wonderful story..may god bless you both…
Querido paulo todos tus libros siempre me han inspirado en mi vida tengo una hija preciosa q es la rzon de mi vivir hoy pasando por un momento dificil lei este post y me lleno con mucha felicidad por que el amor como dices viene inesperado y amar es lo mejor de la vida bellisima historia y que dios siempre este contigo y todos los q te rodean eres una bella persona en este mundo al igual q tu esposa fortalezen muchos corazones en este mundo
Beautifully touching and very inspiring Paulo! I have to share your story with a friend of mine who could use your inspiring and hopeful words very much so! God bless you and your wife and family and all you do!
Touched my heart… and same feelings i get when I think of my husband… I hope we will be together always…
Deeply touched by your sharing. Am such a mess since my heart opened, for I thought it was opened. Wonder if he is my eternal love after all those years of like you thinking it will not last, thinking for some years that one of us would let go … now separated, in divorce procedures, I suddenly realized I had strong feelings for him and saw all the fears that were present and that left my heart closed and unable to see and receive anything … now, that I went to tell the truth, express what I had hidden, etc …, he fears to be in relation again … fear. What an enemy! And then, when I read and search for the reason of my presence here on Earth, the moment being a time of learning in order to access more to our spiritual nature, our true nature, it is a relation with all, not only one. There is no corporal need, etc … I feel missed up. I wonder if it is that important then to find that love with a man, wait for it. I have never been in such a mess … I know that I am living a turning point. In that heart matter, if it is my eternal love, I should not be afraid of loosing him. But how to be sure he his the eternal love or that it is something of real importance on this Earth since the goal is to eliminate more and more of the material or corporal matter.
Love, Jojo.
Interesting and open thoughts are good to hear in contrast to the noise found in the media. May you continue to enjoy the joy.
a beautiful painting and a beautiful story. i read this in my 4×3 cubicle at 7 pm waiting on a crazy traffic outside to die down on a friday night though i’m so ready to go home since 3 pm due to this migrain i have since morning. it’s so beautiful that i have tears in my eyes (good thing everybody has left the building). it’s a burst of hope for my gloomy (and lonely) heart. thank you! your story has made my day and knowing that true love does exist. *smiling
Thank you for sharing that, beautiful story.. beautiful results and inspiring work…
A lovely text and a lovely story. Yet, I can only rely to that one sentence: “was convinced that eternal love did not exist”. I’m happy for everyone who experiences such a story, but isn’t it funny how we still all think we need to be loved by another individual ? :-))
Dear Paulo,
Your working-soul found the perfect partner in hers. You both became one and the way you talk about how free you feel close to her, maybe means that both just want to be together.
God bless you both.
stupendo il quadro e stupenda la storia
love simply is
Dear Paulo,
Thank you. For your honesty, your talent, your willingness to share. And above all, your simplicity. Because through your simple words, you speak volumes. Have a beautiful weekend.
Absolutely amazingly beautiful story !!! True Love lasts forever !!!
It brought tears to my eys and made me smile, thanks so much for sharing your heart with us Paulo and Christina !!! :)
Beautiful!! Thats the kind of luv i hope 4, and if i dnt find it here m sure in heaven i wil! Thks alot Paulo! What u share evryday maks my day. GOD BLESS.
This is beautiful.Me too I feel an intense love to the man who shares my life despite of the ups and downs.He does not paint or write but he paints my days with different colors.After all that we’ve been through,I know that our bound will never break.I guess it all falls right into places now,the light breaks the illusions and cast spells.
Many blessings to the two of you
.. wonderful story.. gives one hope that I’ts never to late… Serendipity exists…
This story touched my heart. May God bless you both and protect you – and your love.
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