Sunsets and Sensibility

I’m on a different kind of high…

- The XX “I Dare You”

Dearest gentle reader,

We have been apart for far too long:)

Being that I’m on summer break from school this post comes to you from a more personal place as opposed to an educational one. I was fortunate to make a new friend recently who has helped me redirect my gaze from the books upwards toward the light, literally. Toward that hot ball of energy in the sky that I so often (and unfairly) reduce to a mere metaphor in my writing. He is better than me at honouring the sun for what it truly is and can take pleasure in it whether it be rising, setting, fiery, or obscured. He is better at enjoying it than I am. Unlike me, he is not distracted by the humans it energizes, and can, instead, give his unwavering attention to it, celebrate it, and sometimes even capture the image of its beauty. His example helps me be present with it too, and for that, I am thankful. Thankful to have a friend who inspires me to delight in firsthand experiences of the natural world. A friend I can pause with. A friend to be quiet beside. To contemplate the skies with. To be “whole” with?

It wasn’t too long ago that I had convinced myself that I could be happy as a single soul for the rest of my life. That solitary abstinence was indeed the highest, noblest state of being and that I could be perfectly content leading a life void of human touch and all things sensual. That the words of dead philosophers would surely be enough to keep me occupied for the rest of my time on earth and that all my most beloved thinkers and authors of the past could provide my soul with any/all nourishment it could possibly need. But over time, my soul became hungry. Hungry. Thirsty. Desolate. In this state of ravenousness, it began searching haphazardly for its “matching half”. Why? Because being “occupied” is not the same as being loved and because a soul, when it is starving, must find sustenance to survive. In its search, it stumbled upon a friend, someone it recognized, someone who shall remain nameless.

I have felt my edges softening lately. My anger and bitterness evaporating. A sort of oceanic mildness that is washing away all the little spot fires that were burning inside me. There may be safety here though it is still too early to tell. Smoke still lingers in the air so I can’t see clearly quite yet, but I can feel movement in my internal universe. My guard is lowering, my toughness is ebbing. My emotional vulnerability is high currently which has thrown my body into a state of unrest. Happily, however, my soul remains calm because it is being nourished by long, powerful, all-enveloping hugs, a beautiful gentle voice, caring messages, by familiarity. It seems to trust this new friend more than the vessel that embodies it and feels a curious sense of wholeness around this soul. It feels at home, it feels fed.  

However, recent happenings have taught me that there is indeed an element of love that must exist in true friendship. That is, one must know how to love well to be a good friend. Therefore, if this post is about anything, it is about how to love well. It is about sharing my experience of love in friendship and the ebb and flow of this love. Remarkably, I have come to realize that loving well is effortless. It is among the most natural and free flowing of all human actions in fact. Unfortunately, however, it does require three very important things: rationality, a healthy mind, and trust (perhaps most of all) which is why helping others to achieve reason remains the first and foremost purpose of my project. Helping others reach their maximum potential through a free liberal (classical) education, habitual thoughtfulness, and moral progress. Helping to foster healthy minds and global trust via nonexclusive phraseology and avenues. Empowering the oppressed, most of whom, do not know how to love well, tragically. 

For me, it was my classical education that taught me how to love well, though gaining this type of knowledge was not a straightforward process by any means. In my case, it required an extensive exploration into the deepest and most profound questions relating to human existence. It required serious and meaningful contemplation concerning questions such as: What is justice? What is virtue? What is love? What is truth? Sometimes, it required me to participate in thoughtful discourse about these questions and listen to and respect ideas that I do not agree with and worldviews I do not share. To devote myself entirely to the pursuit of truth and the stoic principles necessary to maintain this level of devotion. In other words, it required a combination of humbleness and courage for me to learn how to love well. To admit that there is indeed a higher form of love as well as a higher way to love.

In Plato’s Symposium, a character named Aristophanes delivers one of my favourite speeches in praise of the Greek god of love, Erōs*. But rather than giving you an overview of this reference as I normally would, I, instead, dare my readers to go on a search for this treasure of a book, and when you find it, I dare you to read it cover to cover. I dare you to make your own ode to love and maybe even find a soul (or group of souls) brave enough to share together in some Socratic discourse on one of the most highly esteemed topics in history, the topic of erōs. Go on, I dare you.

Sincerely,

Heather

Note: This post has been inspired by new friendship, trust, soul-nourishing hugs, sunset walks, my annual re-reading of Plato’s Symposium, the Bridgerton series, the Vitamin String Quartet, my liberal studies education which taught me how to love well, Epictetus and his unpretentious belief that everybody is a philosopher and that goodness is not exclusive to ascetics or spiritual “experts”, my favourite beaches on Vancouver Island, and the quote "an education without love is no education at all” by Aristotle.