Can you believe it's been almost a year since I've decided to update this blog? When I started this, it began as an almost weekly thing, expressing my thoughts in a space that I could go back on to reflect if need be - or that people could read in order to maybe get to know a side of me that they weren't too familiar with. As time went by, it became more of a tedious exercise, something that took effort, something I didn't necessarily feel inclined to write. My feelings towards the blog had changed. With time, my outlook and original opinion had changed. Ultimately that's what I've been thinking most about recently, change.
George Bernard Shaw, an Irish playwright and and scholar, had some interesting opinions on life and the problems that surrounded social interactions within life. He condemned the democratic system of his time, believing that the people that had the power were either too ignorant or apathetic to help those that had none, and that individuals were ruthless, greedy and only strove to serve their own ends. I sometimes wonder if Shaw referred to each class as a whole, of if he meant individuals within said classes. If he meant individuals, did that include love? Were people so driven by self-interest that sometimes they became blinded to love and the concept of what *should* be the most important thing in our lives? Maybe I'm just a hopeless romantic. Maybe I'm the blind one, the ignorant one, the apathetic one.
One of my favourite quotes by Shaw is as follows:
There are two tragedies in life: one is to lose your heart's desire, the other is to gain it.
This has always been a quote I've loved and hated all at the same time. The obvious tragedy of the two is to lose your hearts desire. No one likes being left. Being alone. Loneliness can consume a person. It can change them.
The not obvious tragedy in the quote is to gain one's heart's desire. People have different interpretations of this quote. Gaining your heart's desire may not always be everything you thought it would be. You may have this idealistic approach to love, perhaps even a little bit ignorant when it comes to the flaws of the person you've fallen in love for. Your heart's desire might not be able to live up to what you originally thought, or perhaps simply because you no longer have anything left to pursue.
Life has *changed* for me. The people I love and the people that loved me, have changed. The circumstances, have changed. My goals, my aspirations, the ways in which I think, have changed. Things I was certain about before, I might not be certain about anymore.
I used to think I knew what love is. But in it's complexity, it's deep, overwhelming, complicated self, does anyone ever really *know* what love is? Can they define it? How do they know for sure?
