DesDownunder's Blog

as usual, you hit the nail on the head Des.Why is it that we try and change the person we supposedly love into something so far removed from what they were when we first met them?I agree that for a relationship to truly work, we must allow our partners the freedom to grow and change just as we would like the chance as well.Because if we stayed the same, no one would be in a long term relationship, we would probably all kill each other.Very thought provoking Des...JasonPS: I did not read this blog entry until after I wrote my latest blog entry. I swear.

Thanks Jason.Relationships are difficult to define as nearly all of them have many different facets.The old idea of two lovers being unified as a single entity was questioned during the 60s and it became popular to think of lovers as two trees growing alongside each other, with their branches and roots becoming entangled in a loving embrace that lasted for as long as they lived.In this way they would help protect each other from the storms of life; they would nurture each other when feeling unwell; encourage each other to be whatever they could, and together would raise their young saplings, whether of their bodies, minds or spirits, under the shelter of their branching canopies. Many Hippies did indeed compose such vows of love to recite to each other, under trees in parks and forests, while they wore garlands of flowers, seeking only the blessings of their friends and families.And all you need is Love.

What fascinates me about this discussion is that it can be equally applied to the love between lifelong best friends, gay or straight.

You are correct Trab, I was trying to be Universal in my descriptions ala Hippie sensitivities. Hippies did not see the necessity to distinguish relationships between genders or even amongst differing, ages (of consent), races, creeds, etc., Indeed Hippies believed that everyone should have an opportunity to express their love for everyone else. Sex whilst being optional was also perceived as a valid and desirable expression of that love. (Please remember I am referring to the true love-peace-flower power, Hippie era which was later to be corrupted by drugs, devastated by HIV, and demoralised by Capitalist motivations.)

I guess maybe I have a hippie idea of love too, then. I don't see any boundaries stipulated by 'society' as being worthy of any consideration whatsoever.