I more than once heard people say, often proudly, that their experiences in love had led them to grow a thick skin. I've never understood why others regard insensitivity as strength and, even more often, emotionality as weakness. My belief is that there is far more courage in growing keener with each joy and pain we experience, and to open our heart all the more when we know we may suffer. Here's the expression of this belief:
No...
Carapace.
Spartan shield shed into chasm.
Pachyderm.
Arduous tusks, scab scratched off.
Ivory.
Charcoal rooks flew pawning coins.
Adamant.
Trumped by hearts, piked, clubbed to ash.
I've naught to hide beneath my pelt,
all walls forswear and ribs unsheathe,
cerise hood lift: this heart must breathe,
admit caress and wild whip's welt,
my sweetest seed shall don no husk.
Though lids may moor, put out the lights,
I shall not fall to mourning nights,
this Spanish Don won't turn to dusk.
No...
Carapace.
Spartan shield shed into chasm.
Pachyderm.
Arduous tusks, scab scratched off.
Ivory.
Charcoal rooks flew pawning coins.
Adamant.
Trumped by hearts, piked, clubbed to ash.
I've naught to hide beneath my pelt,
all walls forswear and ribs unsheathe,
cerise hood lift: this heart must breathe,
admit caress and wild whip's welt,
my sweetest seed shall don no husk.
Though lids may moor, put out the lights,
I shall not fall to mourning nights,
this Spanish Don won't turn to dusk.
Well, there's a difference between being emotionally open and revealing your emotions to everyone, which is why "emotionality" can be a weakness: weeping at the drop of a hat will create problems with maneuvering through life.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I do think it's worth bearing in mind that being hurt...hurts. So it's really a natural response to try to avoid that experience, and one way to do that is hide your emotions, or try not to have them. Certainly life and experience are richer if you open yourself to sorrow and to happiness, but in doing that you make yourself vulnerable, and that can lead to pain -- pain that often feels like it's going to last forever, or at the very least is agony while you're experiencing it.
So, no, becoming insensitive or uncaring is not good, but I do think that it's not unreasonable to see that becoming as strength: it enables you to go, and that's a sign of strength, yes? "Insensivity" could just be read as a version of "avoiding hurt."
True, but one is stronger if one does not need to avoid hurt, I believe :-)
ReplyDelete