Hiding Love Songs

I wrote once, about secrets. Ones that we keep close, hidden in our souls. And looking back, I had known, then, only the barest of their truths.

In The Power of Secrets I said that a woman sharing her secrets is "an irresistible gesture of kindness, tenderness and a shared longing."

I've come to believe that, understand that, more than ever. They're the greatest of gifts.

For our secrets are the essence of who we are - underneath. Private thoughts that swim among our dreams and hopes and regrets. They're bereft of value, though, if surmised or stolen by another.

Some secrets are what we fear. Desperation, abandonment, loneliness - and loss.

Our wishes and fears. Silly and stupid and revealing. What we hope we can become. What we thought we'd be.

And the deep, powerful, secrets of our life's longing for love. The love for which our souls endlessly search.

And that's why they're so important - when revealed. Not as confessions, but as tokens of trust. For without the secrets of the soul, our human expressions, no matter how sincere, are mere notes and chords.

What we hide - what we secretly feel and dream - can create beautiful harmonies when shared.

When these layered harmonies emerge, they do so in the most unlikely places. They're whispered in the night. Choked through tears. Shivered in the pending loneliness of goodbyes.

In a tender moment at the end of the recent "A Star is Born" movie, Ally finds Jack's handwritten love song, hidden in the pages of a book.

She leans over and asks him, "Were you hiding this?"

They were his feelings for her, written as lyrics, a torn sheet hidden within the book's pages.

He plays it for her, the way he hears it in his mind. The simple song gives the movie layers of meaning and harmony. Jack's secrets, shared.

And that scene, the ending scene with Bradley and Gaga, it reminded me of her. So I penned a a gift of lyrics for her, which I thought worthy of sharing here.

Because I've learned a lot since that first post on secrets - so long ago.

I know how special it is that someone can recognize this concept as I do. Someone who even keeps a mental spiral-bound notebook of the lyrics and stanzas that are the melodies of her soul. She remembers every word. Not everyone can.

And of these works, few will be told. To her, they're expensive treasures.

Sharing secrets - trusting someone we love with our deepest feelings - can create beautiful music.

And it's a secret way to build a beautiful love.