Friday, May 17, 2013

A Lesson from Shakespeare



          So, I am pretty much in a state of euphoria right about now. The picture above is what sets the scene and mood for this post. It's beautiful right? For the past few days, and for the next few days, I have been housesitting up in Charlotte, NC for our very close family friends (more like extended family really). However, they have a gorgeous house, with a beautiful backyard and pool and hot tub. So, it has just been me and the two dogs (Axel and Izzy) to keep me company. I must say that it is weird staying in a big empty house all alone, especially after living in a cramped house for a year with 12 other crazy friends who I call family. I haven't really been lonely by any means this week, but it does make me miss Laclede House A (who's song has been running through my head non-stop). But like I mentioned, I have enjoyed this time alone, "me time" as I like to call it. I think it has been really good for me. Being alone just allows me to think, gather my thoughts, process everything that's happened, and then feel secure and free to react. This is what I have been doing a lot recently. Pondering. Asking myself questions. I guess being philosophical..... Which I hate to admit because if you know me, you know that I hate philosophy... I guess my roommate the Philosophy minor or major (I can never remember considering she has like 2 majors and 3 minors....) and a few other friends/acquaintances would be proud of me.

          A lot of things have been running through my mind these past few days. One thing on my mind a lot these days is an idea that Shakespeare presented in many of his plays but most commonly known from The Merchant of Venice. Gosh, there are just so many lessons to learn from Shakespeare. The one I am thinking of, however, is "love is blind." 


                                                                  Jessica: 
But love is blind, and lovers cannot see
The pretty follies that themselves commit.


          The idea that when two people are in love, they are unable to see the faults in either themselves or the object of their affection. The feelings of love suppress the area in the brain that controls critical and rational thought. I don't at all think that this only applies to love with a significant other but also loving a friend or a family member. Love is love. It's a absolute. But that doesn't mean it is endless. Couple break up or get divorced, family members stop talking, friends stop being friends. Is it all because of the blindness that love causes? The blindness that can keep us from seeing how a person really is, or how we really are when we are around that person. I'm not at all saying that love is a bad thing. I believe that love is an amazing gift, one to be treasured and cherished.

         I recently read through a bunch of old journals and letters that I had written and received and so many questions began flying through my head on this subject. What is it about love that makes us blind? Does it make us blind or do we become blind by some choice? If it isn't meant to be, do using this blindness help us try to stay in love? Is all love blind? Is true love, the love you share with the person you spend the rest of your life with, blind?



          I don't know the answers to these questions, and I don't know if I ever will have definite answers to them. I think that is one of the beauties of love. You never have all the answers. It is something that you are constantly learning about.

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