Seeing all those locks on a bridge in Graz, Austria, reminded me one of Joe Cocker’s songs: “Unchain my heart”. Those locks are placed on this bridge by lovers, as a nice and romantic symbol of attachment, one to the other. They mean to say something like “our love is so strong that our link will always stand”. Two hearts …. chained one to the other.

But the bridge is in danger. I was told that the Graz municipality is considering getting rid of those locks, because their combined weight is so heavy that the bridge itself is in danger of collapsing. So we have here an opportunity to look at those locks from another angle: what is the purpose of a bridge, if not to be crossed. In my understanding, life itself is like a bridge; We cross it from birth to death, accumulating experiences and hopefully some wisdom. At the end we reach to the other bank when we have learned something from life, then we arrive in a different land.

But in this perspective a lock on the bridge would only prevent us from moving on, from fulfilling with the natural movement of life. I am not saying of course that love is something which goes against life. I believe life to be in a way a manifestation of love (but this is to be developed in another post). What matters, in my opinion, is that love should be motivation to keep on walking, to always be in movement. Not something related in any way to a lock. A heart should be free, and the greatest love is the love for life itself. So when you love somebody – and I wish for all to do so – then take your lover by the hand, and cross together the bridge. Don’t lock yourself in the middle. Walk, run, jump, do this together, with the same rhythm, but always be in movement towards the other end of the bridge.

Just unlock your heart, unchain your heart…. and be free to love and live.