Romantic CV

I had occasion today to compare romantic CVs with a friend. As with a normal CV, matters that are more important might be given more weight. And as with a normal CV, it might be organised chronologically by positions held, or by skills acquired or experience gained. My CV consists of five main positions held, with two extensive footnotes. As we chatted around the topic, various questions came up. “Which was most important?” “Which did you love the most?” “Which hurt the most?” We spent some time looking at the details of the reason for leaving position section of the form, covering resignations and sackings. Collating my CV reminded me of a LTLYM task that I’ve always wanted to try.

A normal CV is used to apply for a job, but my romantic CV serves a different function entirely. It will not impress anybody, and nor does it seek to, but its content shapes my core. This handful of people have together shaped my heart into what it is today. The love I knew with them, and the hopes we shared, these dear, dear things that I have lost and yet have survived beyond without – these make me who I am. If to love is be alive, it is a compendium of my humanity.

I thought back over my CV and saw that I have done just fine without people who, at the time of being with them, I had thought I could never live without. Strength in experience.