Okay, Enough of That
Today I will not blog about things in the world that bug me, of which there are apparently many (t0 look at my previous posts). Today I will attempt to be cheerful.
I was just looking at Manolo's Shoe Bloe, which is one of my favorite blogs, and his comments about the Georgia bride who ran away to New Mexico. She had fourteen bridesmaids and 600 guests! Who even knows 600 people? I am very glad that we kept the guest list to about 75 when we got married last October -- and I agree that the enormity and expense of the wedding strike me as being diametrically opposed to the happiness of the union: if you have a happy relationship, you don't need to go impressing other people.
I have also been thinking about another entry on Manolo's site, in which he reprints part of an interview with his heroine, Miuccia Prada. In it, she speculates that the less clothing a woman wears, the more unhappy she is. It made me think of stripping. of course. Was I less happy then? In many ways I was, but then, I am happily married now. I enjoyed flaunting my body for attention as a younger woman but am also perfectly content that all that's behind me now.
Miuccia also mentions that the young women in her office always talk about love in terms of what they expect to get, rather than what they would like to give. I think she is correct: many people are caught up in issues of entitlement that would evaporate if they saw love as something that flows from them, not necessarily expecting return. The thing is, it will bring a return -- but one has to have faith, and be ready to give love without needing or expecting a return.
And those are my flowery musings for today. Perhaps I need to say something about faith too, as this creationism thing in Kansas is really irking me (there I go again).
In my view, fundamentalism = lack of faith. Because when someone has faith, they don't need to go around looking for scientific proof to compel others (or themselves?) to believe, nor do they fear the beliefs of others, nor do they need others to believe along with them so that their beliefs may be validated. A person of faith does not need to cling to literal, inflexible interpretations and force them down others' throats.
These people who lack of faith -- yet claim that only they are truly faithful -- cause many problems in the world today, as one can see just by looking around. In the Middle East and in this country too they are happy to kill and maim. In this country they are trying to force their way into government and stifle freedom of thought. Because, you know, when people think, and exercise their free will, they tend to come up with ideas which are different. Only to inflexible cowards does this represent a problem.
I suspect they will not succeed in the long run because, as H.L. Mencken famously said, "there's nothing like prayer in schools to guarantee a nation of athiests."
I was just looking at Manolo's Shoe Bloe, which is one of my favorite blogs, and his comments about the Georgia bride who ran away to New Mexico. She had fourteen bridesmaids and 600 guests! Who even knows 600 people? I am very glad that we kept the guest list to about 75 when we got married last October -- and I agree that the enormity and expense of the wedding strike me as being diametrically opposed to the happiness of the union: if you have a happy relationship, you don't need to go impressing other people.
I have also been thinking about another entry on Manolo's site, in which he reprints part of an interview with his heroine, Miuccia Prada. In it, she speculates that the less clothing a woman wears, the more unhappy she is. It made me think of stripping. of course. Was I less happy then? In many ways I was, but then, I am happily married now. I enjoyed flaunting my body for attention as a younger woman but am also perfectly content that all that's behind me now.
Miuccia also mentions that the young women in her office always talk about love in terms of what they expect to get, rather than what they would like to give. I think she is correct: many people are caught up in issues of entitlement that would evaporate if they saw love as something that flows from them, not necessarily expecting return. The thing is, it will bring a return -- but one has to have faith, and be ready to give love without needing or expecting a return.
And those are my flowery musings for today. Perhaps I need to say something about faith too, as this creationism thing in Kansas is really irking me (there I go again).
In my view, fundamentalism = lack of faith. Because when someone has faith, they don't need to go around looking for scientific proof to compel others (or themselves?) to believe, nor do they fear the beliefs of others, nor do they need others to believe along with them so that their beliefs may be validated. A person of faith does not need to cling to literal, inflexible interpretations and force them down others' throats.
These people who lack of faith -- yet claim that only they are truly faithful -- cause many problems in the world today, as one can see just by looking around. In the Middle East and in this country too they are happy to kill and maim. In this country they are trying to force their way into government and stifle freedom of thought. Because, you know, when people think, and exercise their free will, they tend to come up with ideas which are different. Only to inflexible cowards does this represent a problem.
I suspect they will not succeed in the long run because, as H.L. Mencken famously said, "there's nothing like prayer in schools to guarantee a nation of athiests."
posted by le flaneur at 11:39 AM
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