Sunday, January 13, 2013

Blogspiration 34: Risking Love

Blogspiration is a weekly meme hosted by GrowingUp YA & Saz101. The meme was created to help spark inspiration among bloggers, readers & writers alike. An inspirational quote/picture/video is posted weekly, on the day of the author’s choosing, so that it may inspire creativity, conversation & just a little SOMETHING.
No matter how you look at it, love is a powerful thing.  It can inspire us to greater things, it fulfills our lives in ways that we could scarcely imagine without experiencing it firsthand.

Even so, taking the leap into love is risky.  You never know for certain how long it will last or how it will end.  I've been thinking about this a lot this week thanks to a story I'm writing.  

What makes us take that leap?  Will our risks make us believe in the beauty of love, or will we end up bitter?  After all, nothing can both heal and wound as well as love can.  Obviously, I'm happily married, so my risks worked out for me.  Even so, I see how it goes the other way for some.

Anyway, while in the midst of these thoughts, I saw this quote, and I thought it offered a perspective of how much love can hurt when it goes awry.

This quote comes from The Sandman Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones.



So, what are your thoughts?  Why do we risk going after love when it can end in this kind of pain?  What makes it worth that risk?  Do you ever write characters who take this view on love?

8 comments:

  1. I think love is wonderful. All kinds of love. About romantic love I have contradictory views. I believe in it but for other people. I would like to have it but I really don't want to open the door to it.

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  2. I think it's because love, if it works out right, is the most amazing feeling in the world. :-)

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  3. Oh, LG, Love takes hostages.
    YESSS. I LOVE THIS.

    I mean, duh, my level of love for Neil Gaiman is perhaps slightly creepy, but... even this were NOT Neil Gaiman it would be amazing.

    And... LOVE (starts singing that Moulin Rouge medley All you need is love!). I'm happily married, also, so it worked out for me. But... that risk, whether it's romantic, platonic, or familial. I think... taking the step of being selfless, and opening yourself to hurt for the sake of another person... that's a beautiful thing ♥

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  4. I have two views of love and both cover all stripes of it (filial, fraternal, parental, platonic, and romantic):

    "Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath. At night, the ice weasels come." ~Matt Groening

    But also:

    "[Love] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails." ~ 1 Corinthians, Ch. 13, New American Bible

    In summary, "...only love can leave such a mark...only love can heal such a scar." ~ U2

    Love both sucks and rocks. It's quirky like that. ~ Mina Lobo

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  5. Neil Gaiman is such a great inspiration to me and to everyone. He always gives out such wise words . . . love this quote!

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  6. Brilliant post. The risk is worth it because there is no other feeling like it. Who wouldn't want to feel something so amazing, so huge and vast, that inspires such awe, that means the smallest action can cause such a rush of emotion? Who wouldn't want to be that happy, even if just for a short while? That's why it's worth the risk.

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  7. Great post! I think we take the risk because we need love as humans. We need to feel that we are more than just ourselves and love connects us to others.

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  8. I'd never heard of this meme before, what a great idea! As far as love, I do think the risk is worth it, but feeling that vulnerable is also so scary.
    I love the Gaiman quote! It fits perfectly with one of my characters so it's really inspirational to me right now.

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