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"Animal Farm" is an allegorical and dystopian novella by George Orwell written in 1945. Worth a read, by the way. Still relevant today even though it reflects the time leading up to the 1917 Russian Revolution. Revolution is the key here. And revolutions in their various stages of evolution are all around us. Look out of your front door ...
After the John3 post of yesterday, "Electric Avenue", I have witnessed a powerful stirring of the masses, reminding me of the Egypt revolution of 2011. The protester profile is, however, homogenous. It excludes the under-21s. Funny that. What do the under-21s understand about such issues as love, attraction, sex, relationships, et cetera.
A lot. A lot more that the over-21s it seems. It is the former group which understood why Mary1 walked away.
The revolt methodology of yesterday's stirring included face-to-face discussions, emails, sms's, whatsapps, Facebook messages and phone calls: how could you have walked away?
The question is: what keeps one in a relationship? Sizzling sex? Butterflies in your tummy? Sweet nothings? Flowers? Jewellery? Hello! If this is the answer to love (and marriage) then explain the exorbitant divorce rate, the vast number of singles.
John3 ticked all the boxes: sizzling sex, butterflies in your tummy, sweet nothings, flowers, Jewellery. Conclusion: he is a keeper? Please. #Naïve. And then along comes financial issues, menopause, demanding elderly parents, wild and irresponsible children, political insecurity, economic threats. Old age. And this is all surmountable as long as the magic is in place? Knock, knock. Anyone home? Show me a couple whose sizzling sex, butterflies in your tummy, sweet nothings, flowers and Jewellery is the secret to relationship longevity. I won't hold my breath. Because the sizzling sex, butterflies in your tummy, sweet nothings, flowers and Jewellery also have a finite life!
There are fundamental values, attitudes, ideologies, views, family-of-origin subconscious mores, on top of personality, intellect, academic depth et al that form part of the mix. One does not need to be the same as John or Mary, but there has to be a degree of compatibility, a meeting of the minds on critical issues. Throw in a curved ball and watch the flowers wilt.
So, whilst John3 is wonderful on many, many levels, there were areas of incompatibility. So I walked away. Saved us both a lot pain down the line. Been there. Done that.
So Mary1 soldiers on in her search for a good enough degree of compatibility. If she never finds it, that is okay, too. Why would she "settle", why would she put herself in the line of fire for a less-than-ideal arrangement? This is a wonderful era we are living in. Our poor mothers did not have the luxury that we have. Women now have choices. We can walk away from husbands and boyfriends when their cost exceeds their benefit. And we can live happily alone. Why would one not opt to do exactly that?
Back to the under-21s. My teenage children "get it". They found no difficulty in understanding why I walked away from John3. "It was obvious Mom". How heartening is that that they have a level of consciousness at this age already. It augurs well for this generation. I think that if the general under-21 thinks like my offspring think, then there is hope for the relationships of tomorrow. Just observing mine in action indicates to me that there is indeed hope.
And so in the words of Nancy Sinatra, "these boots were made for walking ..." and the Marys of this world (and the Johns) must keep walking in the meanwhile!