What does this quote mean to you?

Hi there,

What does this quote mean to you?

‘A thousand half-loves must be forsaken to take one whole heart home’-Rumi

Thanks in advance for your response.

[Aloneyetnot]

To me, it means many things. Here are the main two that stand out.

I think by "half love" it can mean not loving yourself, but thinking you love someone else, so it can't be a full, true love. Once a person loves oneself (after having gone through trials, life, heart break, etc.) they are able to experience what a whole, true love is.

I think "half love" can also mean all relationships that don't stand the test of time. The love was there, but it left or lessened in some way, so it was luke warm or "half". In this case, the quote can be referring to how those type of relationships can help lead a person to who/what they truly want for his or her self. (Whole love.)

I'm curious to hear what others think.

[Inika]

‘A thousand half-loves must be forsaken to take one whole heart home’-Rumi

forsaken means to abandon...along those lines. so what this means is to forsake loves that are not fully into you, not fully committed. dont even give them a day let alone a month to drain you, use you, abuse your worth and value and leave you hung up, needing to heal and in despair that love is not real or true. WAIT FOR THE ONE THAT MAKES YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE AT HOME IN THEIR SMILE.

my 2 cent piece. ^

[FairyCrystal]

That oddly resonates with the Matthew Hussey clip I've just watched.
Basically you have to go through loves that aren't really 'it' in order to find the real one big love.
So trial and error. With the half-loves you learn what it is you need in order to be happy, and what this whole-love should look like for you.
You cannot get to this whole love without going through the half-loves.

Also, if you get stuck with a half-love you won't ever get to the whole-love. You will never be truly fulfilled, in a way it is settling for less, not (daring to) chasing your dreams.

Now this can pertain to romantic love but also to your dream job or anything else that is keeping you stuck because you daren't go out of your comfort-zone to go for what you truly want.

I feel it is mostly about the learning process that comes from going through half-loves. You wouldn't be able to identify your whole-love if you've skipped that process. But then you must be able to leave (forsake) and let go of half-loves, otherwise you get stuck in your process.

[Bornonthecusp]

What others have said makes a lot of sense to me. I think we can love others but not ourselves so something appears "missing" I don't particularly love myself right now and am in a relationship where I am. It does feel like a half, but it isn't. It's all there, we just have to wake up to that I think. Back to therapy I go...

[DesertRose]

I think it's about the search for true love, and the obstacles along the way.
If a relationship doesn't work, walk away and try again.. Never give up on real love, it will come,
sometimes it just takes a little bit longer..

[Ariaecheflame]

It's a nice quote.

For me, when it comes to jobs and my career, I tend to go into things with a full heart and I travel the path through until its natural end.

Usually, over time, though my when the path is coming to an end I know because I begin to feel 'half hearted' about it... It is usually a signal to me that it is time to walk another path.

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The relationship with my husband though was different because I had not yet learnt to let the love of other people into it. So in that case my heart was broken to love relationships and I went in the relationship with a broken heart - over time though as our connection grew - my heart healed and expanded to become whole and invested in the love connection.
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There are so many ways to love and so many ways to experience love.

[Ziusudra]

Rumi's poems are about his connection with his God and his spiritual quest.
So, based on that.
He probably meant ..
Abandon life quests/paths that do not complete your heart/soul/spiritual longing.
Find the one life quest/path that absolutely fulfills your heart/soul/spiritual longing.

[DesertRose]

Nice interpretation..

Originally Posted by Ziusudra

Rumi's poems are about his connection with his God and his spiritual quest.
So, based on that.
He probably meant ..
Abandon life quests/paths that do not complete your heart/soul/spiritual longing.
Find the one life quest/path that absolutely fulfills your heart/soul/spiritual longing.

Thanks everyone for your responses :) from experience I resonate with what fairycrystal has said about the journey with half loves.