Partners

Partnerships are a wonder in the world. They are not easy. It's not a melding of the minds, it's a connection that has some dimension other than mutual benefit. It's not that black and white. It's multi-faceted and it's generally private, even in Nature.

You do get glimpses though, it depends on where and when you look. The snapshot above was taken around 6:30 pm on May 14. You don't necessarily see a relationship between those ducks other than that they are ducks, and probably male and female (I'm going by the coloring). However, they happened to be in the lake because I nudged the male off the bank. I saw him and took a movie just before the snapshot posted above. Take a look at the movie below and look at the center of the frame. I didn't even see the female until she moved to the edge of the lake.



They acted together to protect themselves, one leading, the other following without bickering (well who knows, maybe they were silently duck-bickering), and then they went on their own ways, but came back together. Who knows what they were doing separately, but partners do things separately and those experiences contribute to the other, even when they aren't shared experiences.

When you fly on an airplane, the safety instructions emphasize that if you are traveling with a child or dependent, you need to put your oxygen mask on first if there's trouble, and then help your dependent. It goes somewhat against our natural instincts, but it makes sense and has to be done. You are both partners on this trip, and you have different responsibilities to yourselves and to the partnership. Partners need to take care of themselves first, based on their knowledge and experience. This strengthens the pair. If you both had the same exact experiences, you'd be less.

The message here is that the mysteries of our individual nature strengthen our partnerships. Not secrets, but separate experiences that impart a different wisdom, and an intriguing mystery.