This was written for Blogophilia
Week 6.10 Topic: “Wish Upon a Star”
Bonus Points:
Hard (2 pts): Quote George Sand **
Easy (1 pt): Use three vegan foods in your blog (I did not)
So I
was originally thinking of poeming this topic, but when I looked up George Sand
quotes, this is the first one that I saw:
"There is only one happiness in this life,
to love and be loved." **
And
I disagreed with her.
Maybe
it’s the way she said it, but the part of me that doesn’t like to be told what
to do, took issue with her telling me the only
way to achieve the only happiness in
life; perhaps suggesting that if I hadn’t met that exact criteria, then I haven’t
experienced the only happiness possible in life. Initially I assumed she was talking about
romantic love. In that sense, I’ve loved
over the years, but I haven’t been loved back in a very long time. And just because the second part of her
equation isn’t there, that doesn’t mean I haven’t had real happiness, or that
the only one happiness we can achieve is hinged upon not only loving but being
loved in return.
But
then I thought of the other, non-romantic type of love – love of friends,
family, humanity. When I wish upon a
star, do I wish for that special someone to come into my life, for another
chance at romantic love and, apparently, my only shot at the only one happiness
possible? *shrugs* Not really, not anymore. Because that doesn’t define me or limit my
ability to truly be happy. Instead, I look to the stars and wish
that my family and friends stay safe, and happy and healthy. (Of course, sometimes I go a little sideways
and wish for a bajillion dollars so my friends and I can travel the world, but
that’s another story – lol!) But I do love to love, and loving makes me happy.
To
love and be loved - how important is that “and”?
That’s what has me the most hung up on this quote. Is it the vital component to the only one
happiness in life? The only one
happiness?? I tried to think what it
would be like if I didn’t have family and friends who loved me. Would it negate my capacity to love? Could we still love strangers, the earth, the
moon and stars, the forest or the ocean or the animals? Would we still love music, and traveling,
exploring, creating? And if we could,
then is that enough to achieve happiness? If so, then there is more than one happiness
in life, and more than one way to achieve happiness, and the quote is wrong.
"There is only one happiness in this life,
to love and be loved."
I
read that quote to my nineteen-year-old daughter a few minutes ago, and asked
her if she agreed with it. She said she
didn’t either, then she referred me to this quote, from the Anime series Code
Geass:
“A long time ago, Nunally,
Suzaku, and I talked about something. We wondered what happiness would look
like if we could give it a physical form. If I'm not mistaken, I think it was
Suzaku that said that the shape of happiness might resemble glass. His reasoning
made sense. He said that even though you don't usually notice it, it's still
definitely there. You merely have to change your point of view slightly, and
then that glass will sparkle when it reflects the light. I doubt that anything
else could argue its own existence more eloquently.” ― Lelouch Vi Britannia
We
all have our own happiness inside us, and our own point of view in how to
achieve that. There is no singular
end-all, be-all answer.
©
Dahlia Ramone: April 2, 2017
