There is a jellyfish that approaches immortality. Turritopsis nutricula begins as an egg, evolves into a polyp and then graduates to a jellyfish. But if it is threatened by starvation or stress, it somehow reverts back to its former self, and becomes a polyp again. It gets a fresh start. Scientists are investigating the repercussions.

 

 

I am not shocked. I have seen marriages do this. Relationships evolve as reliably as invertebrates, and there are recognizable stages.  Engagement, early marriage, children and other fruitful endeavors, growing pains, shifting roles, mature love, and aging together are all one ribbon of life. But there are setbacks. Couples feel the absence of affection as surely as the sun goes down each night. Stress can siphon out kindness like a blood sucker. Marriages hunger for communication.

 

That is a good time to go backwards. Not in the miraculous way that jellyfish do, where the cellular changes evade explanation. But all of us have beginnings, rich with affection and memories. We can rejuvenate relationships with our own brand of magic. 

 

Replay your wedding video, or pull up the photos of your trip to the islands. Put on music that makes you tap, serve the purple grapes and brie that hail back to dating days. Reread old letters, or watch movies that rekindle the balmy feelings. Your genesis is no more gone than the green tips hiding inside of branches, or the sun on the other side of the planet.

 

You just have to go looking as if you believe it is still there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo by Joy Feerrar

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