Build your castle
The tale goes that they met in the most beautiful spot of land. Some said it was a forest, with a babbling stream littered with waterlilies meandering through a sunlit glade. Others say a mountaintop, upon a proud crag, thick with heather purple in bloom, overlooking a far green valley. Still more said it was on a windswept cliff upthrust from a storm-shaken sea. But all agree that when they met it was a beautiful thing upon which they built.
They raised a castle there. A humble thing, made of stout timber and a steep thatched roof. It was a fragile thing but it served them for the time being and each day they made it better. They would go away together and return to rebuild the towers in stone. When storms shook the walls and all fell to pieces they held fast against the inevitable fractures of life: they rebuilt them, taller and stronger.
There were many other tales like this one, but no one remembers those. In those tales one side stopped building. Off they’d go, on their merry way, to hang out with friends, with a more-than-friend, and oh sure they would check in — “hows the castle doing” — and sure enough the other was still there, building away. But the walls were not growing stronger, the timber was rotting, and in the hearts of their home weeds of resentment flourished. It was time for the builder to lay down their tools and go their own way. For no one should build a beautiful thing alone.
Time passes and all around the country castles arise. Some rose from the ruins of the abandoned and these were as beautiful too. More so, in fact, for they overcame the tragedy that had gone before. Time passes and the castles belong to more than the builders. Now, they are raising families too. Still they work hard to keep the foundations strong, the walls buttressed, the very world they have built reinforced in steel and stone: safe and secure it will last them well.
First meetings are the fair plots of land from which dreams arise. Relationships are the castles built by those who dream big and determine to realise those dreams. Castles take hard work, they are troubled by the storms and tragedy inherent in life. But they last. In those times of tragedy and storm they are there for you. When illness prevents you from lifting up your tools they are there for you. When the daily struggle becomes too great they are there to give you the strength to fight on.
Find the someone who shares your dreams.
Find the someone who dreams of building a castle too.
Find the someone who chooses to build their castle with you.
Inspired by a metaphor by Matthew Hussey, originally posted 26th June 2022 at aadgrant.co.uk/journal
