Love

I watched to movie "Love, Actually" last night with Angela after a delicious dinner of linguine shrimp scampi, made with some fresh little guys just hours out of the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The movie is about, well, love and different situations involving different people in which love is the central theme. The movie was mediocre but the message was amazing. The opening scene is set in an airport and consists of loved ones reuniting after a presumably long separation with a voiceover describing qualities of love and how it is all around us. This opening scene struck a chord with me and I doubt that I'll soon forget it.

Love is all around us, but you wouldn't think it. Sit down and watch the news every night for a week and all you see is murder, hatred, bigotry, war, death, terrorism, politics, bickering, money, greed, despair, and loss. Very few stories are publicized in the media that are centered on love, and those that are are done so consciously for a holiday such as Valentine's Day or Christmas. While there is nothing necessarily wrong with this, for the media is what it is, love just isn't news. That is a wonderful thing. Love is so abundant in the world that it is not newsworthy, it does not shock us when we see people love each other: a husband and wife, mother and son, best friends. It can be said that we have been desensitized to love and all its wonderful consequences and this is proof that there is more love in the world than hatred. Before I watched the movie last night, I did not realize this. We grow up learning that people hate, that war is a reality, and that death is unavoidable. All of these ugly things are burned into our brains until they become a part of us and we no longer see the alternative. Again, turn on the news and all you will see it hatred. We cannot get away from it. Love, on the other hand, is within arm's reach and cannot be reduced to facts and figures (although it has been attempted). Think of it mathematically. Think about how much love you see over the course of a day. A mother kisses her son goodbye and sends him off to school, a husband buys flowers for his wife for no reason, best friends share life philosophies, and lovers lie in bed beside each other wondering why they feel so happy, so alive. Then think about the hatred we read in the papers and see on the television. It is so rare that a murder makes it on the front page. In terms of ratio, love is much more abundant than hate. Therefore, it is easy to conclude that love doesn't have to triumph because it was never behind. What people have to do is realize this and use love to defeat the ugly, both on an international level and personally.

When I think of my art of living, much of it is defined by love, respect, and admiration for those around me. What is the point in wasting energy speaking badly about someone or doing things from which no good could possibly come? When someone speaks badly of me (which I modestly report is quite rare), I dismiss it as that person's issue, not mine. I don't get angry anymore like I used to because I have far more important things to expend my energy on. If someone were to truly wrong me, I will take issue and stand up for myself and defend my character but I will not attack unnecessarily, either verbally or physically. With this in mind, I live from day to day trying to be as pleasant as I can to those around me. If some people are unable to find love themselves, I try to help them by being nice.

Nothing is more satisfying than striving for greatness on a daily basis and a large part of this involves love and respect. Our culture does not "permit" me to admit this without judgement, but I am a far better person than some people I come across if only for the fact that I have a positive outlook about most things in life while they wallow in negativity and pessimism. While some people are beyond hope, I like to think that humanity as a whole hold promise. Hatred will continue to dominate the news because it is rare in comparison to love and love will continue to dominate my art of living because of its infinite uses.