Mai thoughts on life

I recently spent a week on Europe’s sunniest island, Cyprus. There are a lot of interesting places to visit there, delicious food to try and local customs to explore, but all I wanted was to visit Aphrodite. To meet her, to sense that undescribable feeling I usually get on mythological places.

Aphrodite’s rock, the place of her birth, is located along the coast of Paphos and is pretty easily accesible. After an hour ride in a stuffy local bus, the iconic landmark started to appear before my eyes.

According to Greek mythology, Aphrodite was born from this rock. Kronos unmanned his father Uranus and threw his mutilated parts into the sea making it foam up. Hard to believe that from this awful incident the goddess of love, beauty and desire came to life, but legend has it that Aphrodite rose from that sea foam (aphros). She emerged as a breathtakingly beautyful creature and was blown by the winds to the shores of this particular beach on a shell.

Due to its connection to the goddess, the beach and the rock are considered a symbol of love and have become a popular tourist destination. There were a lot of people there who tried to swim around the rock in hopes of finding new love, getting pregnant or various other blessings as eternal youth and beauty, good luck or good fortune. The sea in this region is generally rough, but this day was particularly windy so tourists were discouraged from swimming there.

Most of them just took a few instagram photos and left, but not me. No, no. I sat there observing the waves crushing around the rock. The wind took me thousands of years back in time and I tried to focus on the sea, the sky and of course the rock. The rock. I stared at the rock for quite some time and didn’t really see anything.

I have to admit the place has a mysthical energy surrounding it, but i expected more. I expected some kind of a revelation or epiphany. Something that will change my life or at least my perspective on it.

Aphrodite, Venus, beauty, love, youth, fortune, millions of thoughts were rushing through my mind while I was sitting on the shore. Waiting for a sign. Any sign. I came here to understand more of that ‘once in a lifetime’ transcendental love, I can’t go back with nothing.

For a moment I thought I see something. The waves rose, broke and formed a column of water that dissolved into a pillar of foam. It lasted only for a second, but it looked like Aphrodite’s shape shrouded in mystery. She disappeared as quickly as she appeared and left me blindsided.

And then it hit me. It was right here all the time. In front of me. My big enlightenment – Everything disappears. My idealistic view of a love that lasts forever was completely wrong. Not even Aphrodite’s love with Adonis could last forever. The goddess of love herself couldn’t have her forever love so why did I believed I could?!