making playlists is a hobby of mine so today Whitney's "My Love is Your Love" came on and this lyric struck me:
'If tomorrow is judgement day
and i'm standing on the front line
and the lord asks me what i did with my life.
i will say, i spent it with you.'
firstly, i hope she's talking about her kids and not bobbi bc we all know how that ended. secondly, how amazing would it be to have someone say that about you? what did you do with your life? i spent it with you. ugh, i'm such a sap.
Showing posts with label Love. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Love. Show all posts
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Bad Education
Maybe it's because I watched an okay B-level movie last night before broaching Bad Education but I don't think so. In my experience, all Almodovar movies are spectacular and the main word that comes to mind after I watch them is 'visceral.' According to Webster it means, 'dealing with crude or elemental emotion,' and I think that's why it's the perfect word to describe his films.
I can't recall the last film I saw with an all-male cast that I loved, perhaps this is the first. His movies are so well crafted and push the envelope just enough to make you think about whether, if you were the protagonist, you would do the same as what's scripted. Would I kill my sibling if they were a long term drug addict and only causing utter strife to myself and the rest of my family? I'm gonna go with a no, but I'd probably think about it briefly as an easy way out. Does that make me murderous? No. In my mind, the difference between murderers/criminals and the rest of us is that they don't separate thought and imagination from reality (whether by choice or not). You can't say you've never thought about how easy life could be if you figured out a way to rob a bank and run off to some exotic island for your happily ever after. Or, how much more enjoyable life could be if (insert name of emotionally exhausting/general black hole of a person here) no longer existed. Such is the process of human thought. One is presented with a problem, one looks for the simplest solution. Of course, simplest isn't always the most moral. You see how this movie has made me think? And this is only one part of the parcel.
Can one fall in love at age 10? Are we even emotionally mature enough? Or perhaps it's because our emotional selves are still in development that we can let someone in more easily? It's like kids who learn a language at a young age pick it up faster than adults. I also happened to watch Jumper yesterday (not bad), but the lead says to his leading lady, 'since I was 5, it's only been you.' Or something to that effect. 5? I thought 10 was pushing it. But who am I to say yay or nay. Perhaps 'they just know.' That line had to come from somewhere.
Where are the lines between love, lust, and obsession? How are they different? Does love incorporate the other two and visa versa?
Why does pedophilia exist? Is it because it's forbidden? Why is 18 the age of consent? Seems arbitrary. Apparently, 'Although some young people may feel that they are mature enough to engage in a sexual relationship, others may lack the emotional development to deal with this or to feel confident enough to say 'no'. Age of consent laws are there to protect young people from being sexually exploited by adults.' Here we go again about emotional development. If age 5, is old enough to know you're in love (according to some people) then why 18? I recognize that some things just exist for our own protection and perhaps shouldn't be questioned. But I like to question. Like, why can we vote at 18 but not drink til we're 21? We're emotionally mature enough to take part in choosing who leads one of the most powerful countries on earth but not emotionally mature enough to legally have a glass of wine? On the same token, we're emotionally mature enough to drive at age 16. Meanwhile, 'On an average day in the USA, 10 teenagers are killed in teen-driven vehicles.' What? Je ne comprende pas. Maybe they don't want us voting when we're all under the influence or they figured if we've survived 2 years of teen driving we deserve to vote? Ha.
Everything seems to come down to emotional maturity, no?
Perhaps this is too much for a Sunday morning.
I can't recall the last film I saw with an all-male cast that I loved, perhaps this is the first. His movies are so well crafted and push the envelope just enough to make you think about whether, if you were the protagonist, you would do the same as what's scripted. Would I kill my sibling if they were a long term drug addict and only causing utter strife to myself and the rest of my family? I'm gonna go with a no, but I'd probably think about it briefly as an easy way out. Does that make me murderous? No. In my mind, the difference between murderers/criminals and the rest of us is that they don't separate thought and imagination from reality (whether by choice or not). You can't say you've never thought about how easy life could be if you figured out a way to rob a bank and run off to some exotic island for your happily ever after. Or, how much more enjoyable life could be if (insert name of emotionally exhausting/general black hole of a person here) no longer existed. Such is the process of human thought. One is presented with a problem, one looks for the simplest solution. Of course, simplest isn't always the most moral. You see how this movie has made me think? And this is only one part of the parcel.
Can one fall in love at age 10? Are we even emotionally mature enough? Or perhaps it's because our emotional selves are still in development that we can let someone in more easily? It's like kids who learn a language at a young age pick it up faster than adults. I also happened to watch Jumper yesterday (not bad), but the lead says to his leading lady, 'since I was 5, it's only been you.' Or something to that effect. 5? I thought 10 was pushing it. But who am I to say yay or nay. Perhaps 'they just know.' That line had to come from somewhere.
Where are the lines between love, lust, and obsession? How are they different? Does love incorporate the other two and visa versa?
Why does pedophilia exist? Is it because it's forbidden? Why is 18 the age of consent? Seems arbitrary. Apparently, 'Although some young people may feel that they are mature enough to engage in a sexual relationship, others may lack the emotional development to deal with this or to feel confident enough to say 'no'. Age of consent laws are there to protect young people from being sexually exploited by adults.' Here we go again about emotional development. If age 5, is old enough to know you're in love (according to some people) then why 18? I recognize that some things just exist for our own protection and perhaps shouldn't be questioned. But I like to question. Like, why can we vote at 18 but not drink til we're 21? We're emotionally mature enough to take part in choosing who leads one of the most powerful countries on earth but not emotionally mature enough to legally have a glass of wine? On the same token, we're emotionally mature enough to drive at age 16. Meanwhile, 'On an average day in the USA, 10 teenagers are killed in teen-driven vehicles.' What? Je ne comprende pas. Maybe they don't want us voting when we're all under the influence or they figured if we've survived 2 years of teen driving we deserve to vote? Ha.
Everything seems to come down to emotional maturity, no?
Perhaps this is too much for a Sunday morning.
Monday, June 9, 2008
love is an action
so yesterday a friend introduced me to this quote:
“Love is not a feeling. Love is an action, an activity. . .Genuine love implies commitment and the exercise of wisdom. . . . love as the will to extend oneself for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth.....true love is an act of will that often transcends ephemeral feelings of love or cathexis, it is correct to say, 'Love is as love does'.” - M. Scott Peck
if you read my previous post about action it should be obvious why this quote resonates with me. love is what we all aspire to isn't it? love of your work, love of others, which translates ultimately into a love of life and having it infused into all areas of your existence.
here's a fantastical piece from Shambhala Sun along the same lines.
yes, i'm having an existential morning. sue me! :P
“Love is not a feeling. Love is an action, an activity. . .Genuine love implies commitment and the exercise of wisdom. . . . love as the will to extend oneself for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth.....true love is an act of will that often transcends ephemeral feelings of love or cathexis, it is correct to say, 'Love is as love does'.” - M. Scott Peck
if you read my previous post about action it should be obvious why this quote resonates with me. love is what we all aspire to isn't it? love of your work, love of others, which translates ultimately into a love of life and having it infused into all areas of your existence.
here's a fantastical piece from Shambhala Sun along the same lines.
yes, i'm having an existential morning. sue me! :P
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Awareness
I got out of the subway just now after scurrying about like a rat underground for 40 minutes and really smelled NYC air, possibly for the first time, at 42nd and 6th ave. I had been reading Eat, Pray, Love during my commute and realized that the novel that I had been reading is about awareness. This particular book, much like others worth their salt, incite emotion in people. Some swear by it, others think of Liz Gilbert as a privileged writer paid to travel for a year while she jots down her experience. Boo-effing-hoo. I get the latter but I also believe the former because in my mind you're not supposed to think about who she is because she's sharing her experience which is one that is universal, our quest as people to become aware. At least for those of us who aren't already. Myself included. Back to the air.
I smelled the air when I emerged from the subway and realized that I've smelled it before, it's a familiar city smell (likely a combination of exhaust, dirt and people. ha.) that I've noticeably encountered in my travels to other cities but not in my own. Interesting no? Am I really that absorbed in my day to day and have I been for the last 21 years I've lived here that I've never smelled Eau de NYC? It appears so. The point is not that this city smells so wonderful, because frankly it doesn't, but that I've only bothered to pay attention when I travel- to what a place smells like and from that you can infer that I've missed a lot of other things here too but perhaps conversely also why I like to travel so darn much.
To keep this from becoming a longer yarn than it needs to be on a Wednesday morning I'd like to say that I recognize that I have a tendency to focus on others, possibly in an attempt to deflect from focusing on myself. I would like to be more aware of myself and my surroundings and will work on this as I'm able. Starting with my supinated gait.
Oh and I still love NY desperately.
I smelled the air when I emerged from the subway and realized that I've smelled it before, it's a familiar city smell (likely a combination of exhaust, dirt and people. ha.) that I've noticeably encountered in my travels to other cities but not in my own. Interesting no? Am I really that absorbed in my day to day and have I been for the last 21 years I've lived here that I've never smelled Eau de NYC? It appears so. The point is not that this city smells so wonderful, because frankly it doesn't, but that I've only bothered to pay attention when I travel- to what a place smells like and from that you can infer that I've missed a lot of other things here too but perhaps conversely also why I like to travel so darn much.
To keep this from becoming a longer yarn than it needs to be on a Wednesday morning I'd like to say that I recognize that I have a tendency to focus on others, possibly in an attempt to deflect from focusing on myself. I would like to be more aware of myself and my surroundings and will work on this as I'm able. Starting with my supinated gait.
Oh and I still love NY desperately.
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