Leonard Cohen’s lyrics are sheer poetry:

“Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin. Dance me through the panic ‘til I’m gathered safely in. Lift me like an olive branch and be my homeward dove.”

The words are trenchantly beautiful, and the message comes through loud and clear: Never give up on love, no matter what. Love is the one thing we need­. It is the summit of human existence; it is what gets us through the trenches. So, “Dance me to the end of love, dance me to the end of love.”

No matter what, never give up on love. It’s a simple and true granite rock of a message. Never give up on love—whether you have fallen in love for the very first time, are going through your first break up,  getting married or going through your first divorce, whether you are bearing children, raising children, or watching them go off to college, whether you are discovering a new friend or have lost the best friend you ever had—never give up on love.

Let your heart join the song:

“Oh let me see your beauty when the witnesses are gone. Let me feel you moving like they do in Babylon. Show me slowly and I only know the limits of…love!”

Surrender can look so enticing. Laying down one’s arms and raising a white flag in defeat can look so easy.

But it will only cause loneliness and pain in the end. Love is the kind of thing that you can’t give up on. Without love in one’s life, there is absolutely nothing to live for. At least, this is as far as I’m concerned. I am not speaking for anyone but myself.

If you don’t dance, you’ll never really live.

“Dance me to the wedding now, dance me on and on. Dance me very tenderly and dance me very long. We’re both of us beneath our love, we’re both of us above. Dance me to the end of love!” But it will never happen if you just stand on the sidelines. You can’t just sit back and watch the game. Love is the kind of thing you have to do to live. You have to embrace it; you have to dance. So let loose! Surrender! Jive! Dance! Dance me to the end of love!

~ Leonard Cohen

 

Sherri Rosen is now living in Harlem, New York. She has had her own publicity business for 12 years, giving a powerful voice to people who are doing good things in the world. She writes her own blog at SherriRosen.com.

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• Assist Ed: Julie Garcia
• Ed: Brianna Bemel