Logic Beach: Part I

by Exurb1a

The weed kicked me again. Another notion turned up at the party: Is it possible to love someone for being less than the myth you expected? There are the early days aren't there, of courting and screwing, of kissing goodbye for ages and growing obsessed. You studiously watch this other human for hints of their deep-psychology. If they're nice to the waiter, maybe that means they're a nice person etc. But if you stick it out with someone long enough, if you make it through all that, if you live with them, if you watch them go through a bereavement or some horrible disease, then they'll give you a peek or two at their true face. If the conditions are right then it is possible to love that face, but quite improbable you will like it. You've killed the myth. You've come up close to a harsh truth: people are ugly, all of them. They're bitter and mad and insatiable. Whether they tell you so or not, there will have been days when they regretted meeting you or getting close, just as you will have those days regarding them. They will consider choosing their own self-interest above yours. They will fantasise about other men or women. They will be joyless for weeks. They will squeeze the toothpaste from the middle of the tube. But if you can watch the myth die before your eyes, if you can accept that your lover is disgusting and petty at times, if you can accept this of everyone you ever meet, then everything will almost certainly be fine.