Everyday Canvas

Love and War, in Behavior

Prompt: On the first page of her new novel, The Nightingale, Kristin Hannah says, “In love we find out who we want to be; in war we find out who we are.” Agree or disagree?

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I guess it depends on the person. For myself, I agree. I can’t speak for everyone else, though. Plus, I am wary of generalized conclusions on human behavior, but this quote is from a novel, and novelists are given free range when it comes to attitudes and opinions.

As to my own behavior, take last year’s Game of Thrones in WdC, for example. I surprised myself in how much I pushed me to make my team win. I never even thought that I was a competitive person, earlier. I found it out in this simple game of ours, here. Then, when I looked back into my life, I found similar behaviors on my part. This behavior seems to come up when I am in a team, however. Alone, I am a wuss.

In love, I believe in love alone, without expecting a return, but that doesn’t mean I’ll let someone walk all over me either. I guess this is who I want to be, and I think I am. Yet, from what I observe in other people, sometimes in myself too, in love we believe totally in sunshine, even if life isn’t like that. Cloudy skies, rainy days, and major storms do exist. Still, love makes us look at life through rose-colored glasses the best we can, provided our love is a pure-bred one without selfishness in its genes.

By the way, I only read The Nightingale from the excerpt Amazon has on its page, but I liked what I saw because it is historical as to World War II and a highly acclaimed book. So it’s on my list to read.