Shaw's take on things

I have to admit that I don't enjoy watching most of the shows that come on television these days, although there are some exceptions. None of them, however, are aired on the WB especially shows like Gilmore Girls or Beauty and the Geek. But Sunday I found myself watching the season finale of One Tree Hill (a good friend of mine watches it so...) Anyway I was watching the show and I don't know much about the characters but they had to write and end of the year paper about their opinion of a quote by George Bernard Shaw.

"There are two tragedies in life. One is to lose your heart's desire. The other is to gain it."

I sorta got stuck thinking about this quote and not really focusing on the show. (Sorry person who I was watching the show with). But I did keep a small eye on what various people were saying. One character referred to Shaw as a punk. Another said he didn't know what he was talking about. Most of them agreed with the first part of his statement. That a tragedy of life is to lose your heart' desire and they elaborated on what THAT really meant. But it seemed to be pretty uniform that it can't possibly be a tragedy to gain your heart's desire no matter what.

But as Anna pointed out in a comment to my last post. Sometimes what a heart desire's might not be the best thing for us. I'm currently reading Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison and one of the characters Hagar is in love with her cousin Milkman and has been dating him for the past 12 years. Suddenly Milkman realizes he doesn't want to be with her. She is tramatized by this and realizes that if she can't live in this world with Milkman then she would rather kill him than see him with anyone else. So once a month she stalks him and tries to kill him. But the truth of the matter is that throughout the course of there relationship Milkman has just been using her anyway. He doesn't love or care about her. So the irony of it all is that what she wants most in this world doesn't want her and is definitely not good for her.

I thought about this and realized that sometimes I can be a lot like Hagar. I'll get what I thought I always wanted, but in reality it will be tearing me apart inside and out. Then I will be devastated when I can't have it anymore when in reality I never should have had it in the first place. Feel free to share your thoughts on this subject.

Blactoid: A quote found before the beginning of Song of Solomon is "The fathers may soar and the children may know their names". This is one of my favorite quotes. Not just because it sounds good but because of it's deeper meaning. Morrison traces back to the flying myth of black men. She is referring to our forefathers who flew from slavery. A lot of blacks after slavery ended had to register themselves with the government. Most couldn't read or write. So a lot of family names were lost and they were forced to keep names given to them by slave owners. Some people felt this naming kept them further in bondage. I think that when they were able to name themselves and give identity to both themselves and their children it was a liberating experience and the children would be aware of where they came from.

Anyhoo as always have a good day and as always enjoy.