HInts for a Happy Marriage from Kahlil Gibran and Mother Goose

“Let there be spaces in your togetherness, And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup. Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf. Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone, Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music. Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping. For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts. And stand together, yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart, And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.”  ― Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

Above is one of Marash Girl's favorite passages and perhaps the secret to a long and happy marriage and a long and happy family life (yes, it goes for parents and children too!)

Granted the metaphor Marash Girl offers below is somewhat of a reach, and this may be considered sacrilege, but didn't Mother Goose say it first ?

Little Bo-Peep has lost her sheep,

and doesn't know where to find them;

leave them alone, and they'll come home,

wagging their tails behind them.


Well, you get the point.