I was studying with a friend when another friend ran into us with the news that she had just met a girl. With a little coaxing, she agreed to tell us the story.
Everything was magnified a hundred times. When they first met, the gestures, the small talk, the giggling, the glances at a distance. Later, the phone calls, the time they spent together. It was as if each moment opened a whole new world.
But isn't the first breath of affection always like that? Like the scent of a lilac that, once inhaled, makes everything else seem to fade to the background.
And as relationships progress and love deepens, though we don't speak of them with the same intensity, they are something that sustains us.
I fell in love once. The romantic relationship didn't last, but the love did.
In spite of the pain of breaking up and having to get over it while he was still in my life, his friendship is something that continues to bring me joy and comfort.
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A close friend was visiting from New York a few weeks ago. As intense as things are here, they are, of course, even more so there. At the time she came, Sept. 11 was still a constant subject of conversation there.
Among the things she said that struck me was this: she said she has a greater appreciation for little kids now. They are a reminder of the beauty in life that remains in the face of any hardship.
My nephew, still less than a year old, has been to my family much like that first flush of love.
His first smile, his first stumbling efforts at crawling and now walking, his Bam-Bam like energy. He flirts with everyone, his innocent affection untouched by events in the world beyond his sight.
But the ills in the world beyond my nephew's vision do exist and that is a difficult fact to bear.
I have spoken to some folks who see the harm people do to each other and presume on that basis that human nature is essentially evil.
That assumption somehow just doesn't ring true to me. I am too much inclined to see the beauty in the world.
The friend taking time out to help me through a difficult decision; the droves of people flooding the blood banks; the child gazing with wonder at the world around him; the lovers holding hands; the moving poem; the guy at the cafÇ jumping up to help someone he doesn't even know.
If people were naturally evil, how could we ever be as kind and loving as we so often are?
But we have been known to harm each other as well and that fact must be accounted for. In a book I was reading for my Jewish history class, I found an explanation that may shed some light on this subject.
Some Rabbis have suggested that there are two types of inclinations that all people have.
One is the inclination towards righteousness, loving kindness, being good to one's fellows and to G-d.
The other is self-interest, seeking to fulfill one's own needs and pleasures.
Neither of these inclinations is inherently evil. Both can serve their purpose in enriching the lives of all people.
It is when people incline too far towards self-interest, without tempering it with an understanding of the role communal good plays in advancing self-interest, that the appearance of evil can ensue.
The best hope for individuals and all humanity lies in seeking a balance between these two inclinations.
And it is not because of the evils, but because of the goodness I see in the world that I have been an activist.
All the little daily wonders inspire me to strive to make the world a place where money and power can't overshadow the beauty, creativity and love that make life worth living.
by Sari Krosinsky
Daily Lobo Columnist
