Sarah Kay & Phil Kaye - When Love Arrives

Button Poetry

16 Oct 201504:37

Summary

TLDRThe script is a poetic reflection on the ever-changing nature of love. It describes how love can evolve from youthful ideals to unexpected realities. The narrator reminisces about early fantasies of love, only to discover that real love is flawed, unpredictable, and often different from what was imagined. Love grows, changes, leaves, and returns in new forms, reminding us of its imperfection and beauty. Ultimately, the message encourages us to embrace love when it arrives and accept its departure, appreciating every moment it offers.

Takeaways

😊 Love is not always what you expect; it may come in unexpected forms and at unexpected times.
🎸 The idea of Love changes over time, from idealized versions in youth to more complex realities in adulthood.
🚌 Early ideas of Love involve perfect, romanticized traits like knowing Beatles songs and enjoying simple moments like riding the bus together.
💔 As Love matures, it becomes imperfect, messy, and sometimes disappointing, such as being bad at dancing or forgetting important things.
🎭 Love can grow, change, and even disappear over time, leaving a feeling of loss or adjustment.
💪 Love reappears in different forms, with new characteristics, habits, and quirks that may be unfamiliar at first but become accepted.
🍪 Love is now more grounded, making homemade cookies, having quirky habits like using smiley faces in texts, and showing imperfections.
❤️ Love remains imperfect but still expresses genuine admiration and affection, constantly reminding you that you are beautiful.
⏳ Love arrives and departs at the right moments, often leaving lasting impressions and lessons even when it doesn’t stay forever.
🙏 The script advises embracing Love when it comes, and graciously accepting its departure, appreciating its presence in your life.

Q & A

What is the main theme of the script?
-The main theme of the script is the evolving nature of love and how it changes over time, often defying expectations and stereotypes. It highlights that love is not perfect, can come and go unexpectedly, and should be appreciated for what it is, in its own time.
How does the speaker's perception of love change throughout the script?
-The speaker's perception of love shifts from an idealized, fantasy-like vision in adolescence to a more realistic and accepting understanding in adulthood. Initially, love is portrayed as something perfect and recognizable at first sight, but it evolves into something more complex, flawed, and human.
What literary devices are used in the script to convey the message?
-The script uses personification, metaphors, and vivid imagery. Love is personified and described in various forms, such as having a bowl cut, wearing a hemp necklace, or having new birthmarks. These descriptions make love feel tangible and relatable. The metaphor of love 'stretching like a trampoline' and 'disappearing like baby teeth' conveys its changing nature.
Why does the speaker describe love with both male and female pronouns?
-The use of both male and female pronouns for love highlights that love is not bound by gender. It signifies that love can take many forms and personas, and it is more about the experience and feelings associated with it rather than the identity of the person.
What does the script suggest about the unpredictability of love?
-The script suggests that love is unpredictable and cannot be controlled or planned. It arrives and leaves when it is supposed to, regardless of one's expectations or desires. This unpredictability is something to be accepted and appreciated, as love will show up and depart according to its own timing.
How does the speaker deal with the departure of love?
-The speaker acknowledges the pain of love's departure but emphasizes acceptance. They suggest bidding love farewell with grace and gratitude, recognizing the beauty and value of the experience, even if it was temporary.
What role does time play in the speaker’s experience of love?
-Time plays a crucial role in the speaker's experience of love, as it shows how love evolves and changes. The script reflects on love in different stages of life—adolescence, adulthood, and possibly old age—indicating that love’s form, behavior, and significance are shaped by the passage of time.
What does the speaker mean by 'Love vanished like an amateur magician'?
-This phrase means that the disappearance of love was not subtle or skillful. Everyone else could see the signs of love fading, except the speaker. It indicates that love’s departure was clumsy and evident, but the speaker was too emotionally involved to notice.
What is the significance of the closing message, 'Thank you for stopping by'?
-The closing message signifies gratitude and acceptance. It reflects the speaker's acknowledgment that love, whether it stays or leaves, has value and deserves appreciation for the time it spent in their life. It is a gracious and mature way of dealing with the transient nature of love.
What advice does the speaker give about welcoming and letting go of love?
-The speaker advises to welcome love warmly when it arrives and to let it go gracefully when it leaves. They encourage accepting love’s presence without trying to hold on too tightly and to remain open and appreciative, regardless of its duration.

Outlines

00:00

💭 The Expectations of Love

The narrator recalls their early ideas of love, shaped by a romanticized, idealized image in seventh grade. They imagined love would be immediately recognizable, embodied by someone who played guitar, knew their favorite songs, and wasn't afraid of vulnerability. This early vision of love seemed perfect and easy to identify, but in reality, love didn't meet those preconceived expectations.

💔 Love's Imperfections

When love eventually appears, it's far from the flawless image the narrator had built up. Love is messy, awkward, and imperfect—represented by someone with a bowl cut who didn't share their interests or behave in ideal ways. These imperfections lead to frustration and miscommunication. The narrator learns that love, rather than being an ideal, can be clumsy and far from their initial expectations.

🎭 The Transformation of Love

The narrator describes how love evolves over time, changing in unexpected ways. Love stretches, grows, and sometimes vanishes altogether, leaving behind a sense of loss, like losing baby teeth. There is a realization that plans and expectations are often disrupted by love's unpredictable nature, and that love sometimes disappears without a clear reason, only to reappear later in a new form.

🌀 Love's Return in a New Form

When love comes back after a long absence, it's barely recognizable. Love has matured and changed, with different physical traits and new habits. The narrator finds comfort in this new version of love, as they both share a park bench and laughter. Love has retained its essence but now comes with new experiences, favorite books, and songs. Both the narrator and love have evolved, adjusting to each other’s new realities.

🍪 Love's Everyday Quirks

The everyday life of love is described, with its quirks and imperfections. Love makes chocolate-chip cookies but eats most of them, and is both a terrible driver and a great navigator. Love is now more complicated, full of contradictions, and often uses humor to ease the complexities. Despite these flaws, love is still there, supporting the narrator, even if it takes longer to arrive at where they want to go.

😊 The Human Side of Love

Love is portrayed as wonderfully flawed—messy, noisy, forgetful, and occasionally embarrassing. Love does small things that annoy the narrator but also does deeply meaningful things, like reminding them of their beauty in moments when they feel least deserving. The narrator acknowledges that love’s imperfections are a part of what makes it genuine and endearing.

🌟 Love's Affirmation of Beauty

Love reassures the narrator of their beauty, even when they are at their most vulnerable. Whether they’ve just woken up, have been crying, or don’t believe it themselves, love continues to say 'You are beautiful.' This constant affirmation, despite love's imperfections, becomes one of love’s most meaningful attributes. However, the narrator also recognizes that love sometimes forgets to say it when it’s needed most.

⏳ The Unpredictability of Love

The narrator contemplates the unpredictable nature of love, recognizing that it rarely arrives or stays when expected. Sometimes, love is in a different time zone, or simply not ready. The narrator acknowledges that love may not be the marrying type, or that it might leave after a divorce, but when love does come, it’s beautiful, even if fleeting.

💫 Love's Timely Arrival and Departure

The narrator reflects on the importance of welcoming love when it arrives and gracefully letting it go when it departs. There’s an acceptance of love’s transient nature, with gratitude for the moments it stays. The narrator emphasizes being present in those moments, and when love leaves, finding peace in the quiet left behind.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Love

The concept of Love is central to the script, representing an evolving, complex, and imperfect relationship. It starts as an idealized image in the speaker’s youth, associated with specific traits, and grows into a more nuanced and realistic understanding. Love changes, grows, and sometimes fades, reflecting the unpredictability and imperfection of human connections.

💡Expectations

Expectations refer to the speaker’s initial idealized version of what Love would look like, act like, and be like. They expect Love to be perfect, to know Beatles songs, and to fit a specific mold. However, these expectations are challenged as Love turns out to be different and imperfect, teaching the speaker to accept reality over fantasy.

💡Change

Change is a key theme in the script, symbolized by the ways in which Love grows and evolves. The speaker describes how Love 'stretched like a trampoline' and how both they and Love changed in appearance, habits, and preferences over time. This reflects how relationships and people are never static but continuously transform.

💡Imperfection

Imperfection is a recurring concept, highlighting the realistic portrayal of Love. Contrary to the speaker’s early idealized vision, Love is flawed – Love hates the bus, doesn’t know the Beatles, and becomes the reason for lies. These imperfections humanize Love and reflect the script's message that real love is not flawless.

💡Loss

Loss is expressed as Love ‘disappears slowly like baby teeth,’ symbolizing the inevitable fading of certain emotions and connections over time. This suggests that part of the human experience is learning to cope with the loss of love, understanding that not all connections last forever, and that loss is a natural part of life’s cycle.

💡Growth

Growth in the script refers to the speaker’s evolving understanding of Love. Initially, Love is a distant, idealized figure, but over time, it becomes more grounded and realistic. Both the speaker and Love change in appearance, behavior, and understanding, symbolizing the personal development that accompanies relationships.

💡Time

Time plays a crucial role in the narrative, as Love arrives and leaves at different stages in the speaker’s life. The speaker reflects on how Love is sometimes ‘in the wrong time zone’ or ‘not ready,’ suggesting that relationships are influenced by timing, and Love shows up when it’s meant to, not always when expected.

💡Acceptance

Acceptance is a key message, as the speaker learns to embrace Love with all its imperfections and unpredictability. They move from a place of searching for a perfect version of Love to accepting it as it is, whether it stays or leaves. The speaker encourages welcoming Love when it arrives and being grateful when it departs.

💡Reality vs. Fantasy

This concept highlights the contrast between the speaker’s initial fantasy of Love and the reality they later encounter. At first, Love is imagined as someone who fits a perfect mold, but reality brings a much messier, flawed version of Love. This shift illustrates the journey from youthful idealism to mature understanding of relationships.

💡Letting Go

Letting go is symbolized by the idea that Love leaves when it must, and the speaker must learn to let go when Love moves on. The script encourages embracing the transient nature of relationships and being grateful for the time spent together rather than clinging to what is no longer there.

Highlights

Love is portrayed with vivid imagery, initially imagined as an idealized figure with traits like wearing a hemp necklace, a tight French braid, and playing the guitar.

The realization that love is imperfect: Love wears the same clothes, hates the bus, and doesn’t know anything about The Beatles.

A humorous take on early romantic experiences: 'Every time I tried to kiss Love, our teeth got in the way.'

Love becomes the reason for lies and rebellion, indicating how love can make people do things they wouldn’t normally do.

The transformation of love: how love changes as one grows, stretches, and sometimes disappears, losing parts of oneself in the process.

Love returns in unexpected ways: 'When Love finally reappeared, I barely recognized them.' This signifies how love evolves and feels different over time.

The new qualities of love: darker eyes, freckles, new birthmarks, and a softer voice—reflecting how love matures and develops different characteristics.

The idea that love now has new habits, like enjoying different songs, but still finds joy in shared jokes and memories.

Love is not always perfect, as shown by its quirks like chewing loudly, leaving the cap off the toothpaste, and using smiley faces in texts.

The realistic view of love: it’s messy, it changes, and has flaws, but also provides warmth, comfort, and affirmation, like homemade cookies or compliments.

The reminder that love is beautiful, even in moments of vulnerability, sadness, and doubt—love continues to affirm one’s worth.

The theme that love isn't what you expect: love can be in the wrong place, at the wrong time, or just not ready for you.

The bittersweet truth about love: it may come and go, appear when least expected, and sometimes, leave you, but its timing is always right.

When love leaves, the speaker suggests gratitude, welcoming love when it arrives and being gracious when it departs.

The conclusion conveys a sense of acceptance and peace with love’s transient nature, encouraging the listener to appreciate love for what it is.