“A mermaid found a swimming lad, Picked him for her own, Pressed her body to his body, Laughed; and plunging down Forgot in cruel happiness That even lovers drown. - William Butler Yeats •••••••••From the book•••••••••• We want so badly to share our innermost experience with our loved ones, but often like the mermaid, we forget that not everyone can go where we go. Indeed we all share this mysterious fact- that no one else can go into our complete depth. The lad can visit the mermaids depth, but he cannot live there or he will drown. And the mermaid can visit the lad’s life on land, but can’t stay there or she will suffocate. We must, each of us, return to our inmost element in order to survive. Frequently, we judge each other for not coming along, when in fact, if we are kept out of our native element too long, we will suffocate or drown. The living terrain of relationship actually exists in the overlap of our inmost natures. The mermaid + lad embrace where the deep + air meet. It ...