By Scott B. Romo |Coyote Contributor|
Love is what brings all things together, and Death is what tears them apart. These two concepts have been the obsession of creative thinkers since the dawn of consciousness.
Becoming a well-rounded person may demand embracing these frightening parts of life.
Though death can be a sad topic, and love a confusing one, building our understandings and comfort of these concepts might just make the world a better place to live.
To be human is to be aware. Awareness is our greatest asset but also our greatest tormentor.
Having to be aware of our flaws is a major stressor on us and can result in incredible sadness among the highly self-conscious.
We constantly compare ourselves to the version of us that we’d like to be but will never reach. Accepting one’s flaws is the most essential step to becoming comfortable in our own skin.
Therefore, we must eventually deal with the largest, most prominent flaw of all living creatures: mortality.
Being such self-aware creatures, the knowledge that one day our lives will end could give any person a feeling of pointlessness.
With death constantly knocking on our door, some might want to give in to its influence before their time, just to stop the noise. Though that’s only in extreme cases, the fear of death is still in all of us.
This is all very morose, but with the awareness of this side of the coin, we can begin to appreciate what is on the other.
If death is decay, separation, entropy and loss, then think of love instead. Love is building, connecting, fusing, and gaining.
Love creates life and improves it, filling our days with meaning and inspiration. Love is simply life supporting life.
I’ve never lived in any other generation, so I can’t compare it to a previous one, but I’m not afraid to say that I feel like my peers are very disconnected.
When a smile from a stranger becomes a rarity it’s time to reevaluate the way we see each other. We spend our whole lives looking for love and we miss thousands of opportunities to express it every day.
Why must we avoid eye contact? Why does love seem saved for a small number of people involved in our lives?
So what is this “love” that we’re all searching for? It’s not care or support like it should be. We may confuse real love with infatuation and lust but act surprised when relationships based on those ideas don’t last very long.
All the while, being cold and closed off from each other. So when the sex becomes routine and certain traits you used to like become nuisances, you’re left with a stranger.
When throughout your whole life, you could have had an unlimited amount of real connections by revealing yourself and listening to others.
Love is what holds everything together and it’s much broader and abstract than could be described in a Twitter picture with a quote on it.
I challenge the reader of this article to step out of their comfort level and really make an attempt to help a stranger understand that the rest of humanity loves them.
Think of how much a smile and a compliment could do. There’s no reason to fear love the same way that we fear death.
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