Jane Austen Quote of the Week 141

This week I ventured into Sense & Sensibility again to find anything for tomorrow's Valentine's Day. I found this passage and I hope it serves us all. Volume III Chapter 12, last paragraph. It was when the Dashwoods finally found out that Edward Ferrars was not married to Lucy Steele.

Elinor could sit it no longer. She almost ran out of the room, and as soon as the door was closed, burst into tears of joy, which at first she thought would never cease. Edward, who had till then looked anywhere rather than at her, saw her hurry away, and perhaps saw - or even heard, her emotion; for immediately afterwards he fell into a reverie, which no remarks, no enquiries, o affectionate address of Mrs. Dashwood could penetrate, and at last without saying a word, quitted the room, and walked out towards the village; - leaving the others in the greatest astonishment and perplexity on achange in his situation, so wonderful and so sudden;- a perplexity which they had no means of lessening but by their own conjectures.

Most of us feel for Elinor. Yes, of course we feel for Marianne too (and I am very happy that she was eventually married to my fave hero Col Brandon). However, Elinor never uttered a word about her own suffering, thus her happiness to me was somewhat special.

A friend of mine told me recently of an unfortunate engagement that was broken a few months ago; leaving her wings clipped. She asked me how I got over my own broken heart more than a year ago before I met my current partner. I told her, "With many tears and catharsis. But also by trying to truly enjoy being me and just live for the moment."

I hope what I said helped her. I think Elinor and Marianne would agree. Marianne would cry herself to sleep and Elinor would busy herself with anything around the house. And somehow, as Elinor (in this case) was ready to let go of the past and walk her life alone... somehow things changed rapidly around her for her benefit. I bet she had not expected that Edward would walk in with such a confession when she woke up that morning.

And there's the line of the week: we never know what's around the corner, so just do our best and enjoy the ride. Afterall, before we love someone else, we have to be totally in love with ourselves first. And there maybe something sweet as we turn around the corner which we might fail to see if we are too busy looking at the past.

Happy Valentine, everyone. Love and Peace for us all.

Pic: Elinor (Emma Thompson) and Edward (Hugh Grant) from Sense & Sensibility 1995