During my morning commute to work, I let my senses wander aimlessly per usual, basking in December’s chilled sunlight and the aroma that is Magnolia Bakery. And as I stood there across the Village’s sanctuary of sweets, on the corner of Bleecker Street and West 11th Street, my eyes were drawn to the glimmering window display in front of Bookmarc – a quaint jewel of a shop, part of the Marc Jacobs empire. This time, though, it wasn’t the store’s eclectic collection of coffee table books that caught my attention, but rather, two small red hearts that winked at me through the glass.
I had some time to spare, so I listened to my own heart and walked into the store. I picked up the small, red, leather hearts off the wooden table, sitting on top of unraveled brown paper wrapping, and held them each in my palms. I looked closely; the word “YES” was embossed at each heart’s center in large text.
The man that worked behind the counter explained that the items are paperweights to be placed on a coffee table or office desk. I held both hearts next to one another, staring at them. From afar and at a cursory glance, they looked exactly the same. But when examined closely, the paperweights themselves differed ever so slightly: One was heavier than the other, each of their stitching faintly varied in thickness, and the leathers possessed feeble nuances in pattern and texture. The only element that was consistent between the two was the “YES” engraved on each.
The hearts in the window were the last two in stock, and the store is not expecting to receive any more. I eagerly bought one of the hearts, leaving the last one for another hopeless romantic to claim as his or her own.
I left Bookmarc and continued walking down Bleecker Street, as I slipped the paperweight in my backpack. At that moment, I had two full hearts: one replete with leather and stuffing, wrapped inside my bag, and the other one beating in my chest, filled with joy and excitement from my new purchase.
Just as the two paperweight hearts subtly differ from one another, so do we as human beings. Yet, we all possess this same organ within our rib cages that pumps blood and sustains us, with our veins acting as their stitching. And while we are all unique, each of our distinct hearts behold the same essential purpose: to let us live and to feel. In life, personal intricacies aside, we are all exposed to love – an emotion and a state of mind that ultimately makes us vulnerable. In this sense, we can feel as though our hearts are as heavy and susceptible to being ripped and torn as a leather paperweight.
When I got back to my apartment and set my paperweight down on my coffee table, I briefly pondered over the sight of my new trinket; maybe this fear of vulnerability is that which sometimes prevents us from revealing our hearts openly to others. The reason the paperweights sparked my interest and grabbed my attention so charmingly through Bookmarc’s glass window was because they were unwrapped and exposed to the world proudly for all shoppers to see, unconcealed beneath any brown paper packaging.
Perhaps, therefore, we must take note from these paperweights and remove the inhibitions wrapped around our own human hearts – to make them visible to those around us and to bare our potential to love. If we seize this freedom of being uncovered and unhidden by our fears, we can then embrace the possibility engraved at our cores: to be beautifully vulnerable, to exist boldly and openly, and to say, “YES” – to love and to life.
And in doing so, in living free of the worries we might tie to the prospect of love, we invite the space for romance to exist around us – for another person to respond, and to gravitate towards our open hearts that we display in the glass windows of our souls.
Bookmarc – 400 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10014
