Nicole

Dedicated to my dearest love, Nicole.

Nicole is an alias name.  She is very shy and prefers that I not mention her real name.  Plus she is a very well known person in her country, a princess.  It would not be appropriate for our love affair to be plastered all over the Internet.  It is bad enough as it is, having to watch out for the paparazzi.

I met Nicole while traveling in India.  We both happened to be visiting the Taj Mahal at the same time.  She was traveling incognito or otherwise we would perhaps not have met.  I was, as usual, taking pictures and she came over to me as there was a problem with her camera and she noticed that I was shooting with an SLR and so she asked me for help.  I happened to have a change bag so was able to get the film out of her camera without exposing it to light, and then was able to check out her camera.  As it turned out the battery had died, so simply replacing it fixed the problem.

It is quite mysterious that I should have met Nicole at the Taj Mahal.  How many lovers have actually met as one of the most majestic buildings in the world?  I know many lovers have probably visited the Taj Mahal, but that two people should meet there and become lovers, is perhaps unusual.  It is even more unusual when one considers that the Taj Mahal is one of those mystical  places which I dreamt of visiting for years, as if fate brought be to the Taj Mahal at the exact time when Nichole would be there.  It is just one of those chance happenings, a billion to one, that only happens in movies or fictional stories.  But this actually happened to me and has to be one of the turning points in my life.

It has been since meeting Nicole that my perception of life has changed greatly, as if through our love I have had an epiphany.  What I have come to realize is that one's experience of love is one of the most beautiful reflections which can be related; that through the creative process love may be expressed as a most beautiful creation like the Taj Mahal, that when one is motivated by pure love to create a work of beauty, then that creation will come to have a life of its on and live far beyond the age of the artist's mortal being.

This is why structures like the Taj Mahal have come to have a life of their own, being works inspired by love, beauty created through love, in this case a most loved wife.  Much of my work is now inspired by Nicole and our deep love.  This is why I must speak of her, even though I do not wish to reveal her identity.  Perhaps one day this will be known to the world but for now I respect her desire for privacy.  It is enough to know that she is the inspiration of my work, that the art, poetry and songs I create are born out of a strong and passionate love.  This is why I believe the work I am now doing is so beautiful and easily embraced by others.  For example you can look at my heart designs and see that they are unique, works which have been perfected and are quite beautiful.  This is especially true of the StarBurst Heart designs like the one I used to create the logo for Cyber Sojourn.

Throughout history there have been works inspired by love which have come to be embraced by society.  The Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci is perhaps the most famous such painting.  It is believed that da Vinci was in love with the model and I for one believe this is the case, that the Mona Lisa is NOT a self portrait of a Renaissance cross dresser as some historians have postulated.

Great works of art and architecture have also been inspired by the love of God.  It may even be said that the Holy Bible is a work of art inspired by God's love.  Certainly all great paintings related to religion have as a motivative factor an expression of loving God.  Indeed, it may even be said that God is love and light, truth and beauty, that art which reflects this perception of God is destined to become regarded as great art, for humanity by nature is aroused by the sight of God and to be in the presence of work inspired by love is to be in God's presence.