I have some very good friends who are spending some time in Denmark and are able to visit some very historical places while there. A week or so ago they went to Koln Germany. Of course the history of Europe and the surrounding countries is absolutely incredible, but there was one picture from their journey that caught my eye. It was a picture of a steel chain fence on the Rhine River walk area with hundreds of padlocks on them. I wrote on their blog the question of what in the world is with all the padlocks? Do people use them to lock up their bikes during the day or what?
I didn’t hear a response right away so I did a little Google Search. Other Countries sure have a way to take the ordinary and make it extraordinary. Here is what I found out.
The Padlocks are “Love Padlocks” and are a custom from the 1980’s to symbolize the love two people have for each other. Couples go to one of these bridges with their padlocks (some engraved with names, initials, or such), they lock the padlock on the fence and throw the key into the river or valley to signify their eternal love for each other that no one can ever open or break apart.
These bridges have popped up all over the place like China, Japan, Paris, Italy, Germany, Rome, Greece and many other countries and cities. What a cool idea. It has become a tourist attraction and people stop and read the loving messages inscribed on them.
It made me start to think, dangerous I know. What if when you commit to someone you bought a padlock and placed it on your door entry way so that every day you leave your home and every day you entered your home you would be reminded of the commitment you have made to another person.
Take it one step further. What if you had a lock for the commitment to yourself! Yes, love is great and being committed to another person is great, but how about showing yourself that same commitment? What if you put an inscribed padlock in your bathroom, office, car, or some other place that is constantly visible to you to remind you of your commitment to your values, goals, and purpose? Maybe we can start a trend; just maybe we can start a movement of loving each other as well as ourselves!
How strong is your padlock? How strong is your commitment to another person as well as to yourself? Pretty cool concept. Ordinary moving to extraordinary!
For more information on this and to see all the countries that currently have a location of padlocks see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_padlocks
A very famous padlock gate is between two small villages in the Cinque Terre region. The story goes that lovers between two distant towns would meet at this central point - clip a lock on the gate - each take a key. As long as the lock stayed in place they would be lovers. I have a picture of it at http://i517.photobucket.com/albums/u334/wburkett/Mediterranean%20%202009/IMG_0141.jpg Enjoy.
ReplyDelete