LOVE AT CHRISTMAS AND LOVE IN GENERAL

Love, one of the most readily used words in the dictionary. 

Waking up with this word in one´s head after being influenced by an astonishingly beautiful film depicting an elderly couple dealing with the consequences of illness, and the inevitability of death and loneliness.

As we approach Christmas, feelings of love and loyalty towards certain people start to stir within.A sensation that is unavoidable; it seeps over you as you think about what to buy your loved ones, and you become increasingly aware of the ever present festive influences all around.

Christmas is a sad time of year. Death hangs over it for some, as loved ones were lost around the festive dates.Loneliness is ever present in people who cannot be with their loved ones, or who are simply alone in this World.Other sensitive souls see the side that children are meant not to see; where hope and excitement rule their small worlds. As our Worlds expand, there is the threat that fear, criticism, complex reasoning, hatred and other such ´negative´ emotions will come into play.

The aforementioned film shows love in it´s most pure form. A brutally realistic and slow paced French film; it´s main topic being the cruelty of illness and old age. An expansive, grand Parisian flat with acres of unused space counterbalancing the enormity of what is occurring to the two protagonists.
Illness is there to test us all,and our levels of compassion and selflessness. Is it by nature selfish to ask to be loved?Is it selfish to love how one wants to love?

Returning to Christmas, buying presents for others can be a joyful experience. It forces one to shed their built up layers of day to day selfishness (if it can be called that). However, buying and giving by it´s nature can not ever be purely and truly selfless; it is related to the giver´s needs and wants also.

However, in general the complexity of human nature and human relationships can not be avoided.Each of us has a history and a past with either close or distant family members, parents or children.Buying presents, as well as giving and receiving, seems to temporarily mask the unspoken demons. Or perhaps it´s intention is to show these people that you do love them, and the past is ´gone´.
Serving somebody else; helping them into old age, being there for them in the most intimate of situations and watching them suffer is a mark of love.In it´s purest form?Most certainly close to it.Sadness is in it´s purest form is also utterly beautiful.This magnificent French film and Christmas time as a whole, both resonate deeply. They have, and will continue to evoke a sadness and sensibility that is quite literally pure, unadulterated emotion.