***image1***
Dear Duncan,
I've decided there is no God, or if there is a God, he's a man and he hates women. First, there are very few truly acceptable men to go around for all the wonderful women in the world. Second, every time I start seeing a man, he rejects ME because he finds something wrong with me or thinks he can find something better (even though he probably doesn't deserve to be with me in the first place). How can you disregard a well-educated woman with a good job who goes to the gym and dresses nicely when you don't even have a job, or you're fat, or short or stupid? You can't imagine what it's like to be rejected by guys who aren't as smart, or well employed, or attractive as you are. That's why I think God hates women-he puts us in this world where we get rejected by men who don't appreciate excellent females. Doesn't everyone deserve true love? Don't I deserve to be with my equal?
You do deserve your equal. You absolutely deserve to be with some arrogant, self-absorbed, spoiled whiner who lacks any perspective whatsoever. How do I know you're spoiled? Because only a spoiled person would curse God when she has a good job, a good education, a gym membership and nice clothes. Perhaps you didn't hear about the hurricane that destroyed thousands of lives.
I agree that everyone deserves true love-I simply disagree with your definition of true love. Many people are inclined to believe that love can only mean romantic love between two people who are attractive, witty and well employed. It may surprise you to know that many average-looking, mediocre and/or poor people actually experience romantic love. Possibly, they have a better chance of finding romantic love than good-looking, rich, charming people because they lack an over-inflated sense of entitlement. However, any definition of romantic love is inadequate as a definition for true love. Have you ever loved someone completely without wanting anything in return? Have you ever felt that you would gladly give your life for someone you loved? That's closer to the feeling of true love than your maniacal desire to find a worthy man, because your pursuit of love is more about self-gratification than self-sacrifice. True love isn't the fulfillment of one's desire for personal happiness-true love is the desire for everyone in the world to feel happy.
Everyone can recall a moment, universal to all, perhaps from early childhood, when you wanted to love everyone and everything-your father, your mother, your brothers, evil people, a dog, a cat, grass- and you wanted everyone to feel good, everyone to feel happy; and even more, you wanted to do something special so that everyone would be happy, even to sacrifice yourself, to give your life so that everyone should feel happy and joyful. This feeling is the feeling of love, and it must be returned to, for it is the life of every person. -Leo Tolstoy
I honestly hope you find that kind of true love. If you do, you'll awaken to a different world-you might even enjoy knowing that your pursuit of romantic love is a tiny matter to the universe. When you begin to think of love as something you give, instead of something you receive, you'll realize you have an endless supply (of, you know, love).
Finally, I'd like to thank everyone who helped with "Big Love for the Big Easy." We raised over $16,000 for disaster relief. Some people deserve special mention-Swig owners Robert Hall and Cliff Skoglund, Robert Railey (Santa Fe Digital Image), Vanilla Pop, everyone at Nancy Brown Custom Jeweler, Lee Rommel, Yana Merrill, the staff at Swig, Lisa Strout and the NM Film Office, First National Bank and Ellie at KBAC. If I forgot anyone, I apologize. I'm deeply grateful to everyone who participated-you all know the meaning of true love.
