This ended up being a LOT longer than I had planned it to be. 26 minutes long. So be prepared for a lot of rambling.
Songs used (in order):
- Yasou 「Air -TV- OST」
- いつか気付くかな「Little Busters! OST」
- 降り続く雨の街で 「Little Busters! OST」
- My Most Precious Treasure -Orgel-「Angel Beats! OST」
- Saya’s Melody「Little Busters! -Ecstasy- OST」
- Unjust Life「Angel Beats! OST」
- たったひとつの魔法の言葉 「Little Busters! OST」
- My Heart「Angel Beats! OST」
- Study Time「Angel Beats! OST」
- Konata’s Theme, Chuukintou Ver.「Lucky Star OST」
- Skip Skip Dayo 「Lucky Star OST」
- Fun Fun Guitar Dayo 「Lucky Star OST」
- Last Train Home ~Still Far 「Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai OST」
- Little Melody「Little Busters! OST」
I tend to write responses into the comment box as I listen, as if we were holding a conversation… That’s why sometimes what I write may abruptly change topic or may sound weird.
I think I have stated before, but it seems that many of your views about such things are quite consistent with my own. I tend to be a person who is very very careful about “thought purity,” meaning that when I feel strongly about something, I tend to analyze why and essentially “break the feeling down” to its base components. (Ex: Am I subconsciously comparing this situation to a really cool movie I have seen recently? Am I just enjoying the novelty of the situation?) True, sometimes such automatic parsing of feelings can sometimes “ruin the fun” of certain things (for example I do not get excited or worked up by watching sports until maybe the last minute), but I can’t help how my brain is. At any rate, I would categorize love… REAL love, as a “reason”, not an “outcome.”
You are right, love is way too commercialized. People are always looking for “prince charmings” and fairytale relationships… heck even relationships as depicted in animes because that’s what they have been exposed to for too long. The shallow will attribute this as “love” and be eternally dissatisfied with their current status. The United States and its “typical” population being basically the epitome of shallowness, well you can get an idea why the divorce rates are where they are. People go into marriages with the OPTION to divorce in their minds.
But anyways, the thought process should not be “He buys me lots of things so he is nice and caring. We are so in love!!1” or “The sex is great… we are so right for each other.” The thought process should be along the lines of “I enjoy spending time and listening to this person BECAUSE I love them.” Yes, the reasons above are varied for effect, but note how the last example has a property we refer to in science as “intrinsic.” It was either there to begin with or was formed eventually by a reaction, but its a property of the object, not a “result” of the object’s existence.
… Maybe that makes sense.
Note though how the above definition would encompass friends. It is very possible to love friends (though with different intensities than how you may feel with say your partner). However, also note that this stance does not agree with the adage “love is not like a pot of sugar– there is enough to go around” since I do think it is possible to love some people more than others (not to say that this gap cannot be closed with enough diligence though). So yes, that’s why I can say that I love the people in Onigiri, especially after knowing them for so long (some have known me since Junior year in Highschool!)
As far as relationships for me. Well, I am (and can see myself be in the future) hesitant to brand friendships as relationships because I don’t want to mess up what’s already “there” so to speak. You know… all the awkward feelings and such sometimes compel people to be awkward around each other in or after a relationship because they feel they must behave a relationship. That, and how when one is looking to make friends, sometimes people want to make friends with the intention of going into a relationship with you (and when this doesn’t happen, they show their true colours because they don’t care what you think of them anymore.) A good example of this is how “girl gamers” are treated better in MMOs and given better items and such. This, and this mentality is something I absolutely hate.
PS: I swear I’m not posting on my own blog lately because I keep writing posts as comments on yours!