Elizabeth Bishop once said:
“The art of losing isn’t hard to master; so many things seem filled with the intent to be lost that their loss is no disaster”. What does this truly entail, and why is it even a relevant topic? This poem signifies more about life, in just 4 lines compared to many.
Losing is indeed an art. And no, I’m not talking about losing a game or a bet. This is speaking on terms of emotionally losing something. Focusing on loss, what seems to be the biggest thing that can be lost emotionally? Many people would say love; I say care/concern. To me, care and concern contain more intent to be lost than any other emotion. Love can be lost more easily, but it doesn’t necessarily come equipped with the intent to be lost. Caring and having concern, on the other hand do.
It’s easy to lose the drive to care about things. Society builds people up to be resilient, so this wouldn’t affect us. However, to what level does resiliency still stay effective? To me, the bigger picture is how the individual is viewed once their residency is at an all time high. When you become hyper resilient, it makes it easier to deal with events that occur. But, doesn’t that make you look like a careless person after awhile?
That’s the uphill battle I’ve been facing with myself recently. I feel like ever since this school year started, I’ve built my resiliency up to the point when I don’t even care about certain things anymore. Does this make me a horrible person? Apparently. However, I see no harm in it. To me, the act of caring becomes weakening after awhile. There’s only so much you can take until you’ve had enough. By then, you’re faced with a choice: you can worry about what your next step should be, or realize your next step is non existent. It’s easier to act this way, because we’re human and we’re all going through something all the time. But the choice is essentially ours as to how we handle it. Why should we worry about things that were meant to be lost in the first place? Surely we know the consequence of everything we do. Caring comes with a big responsibility. It’s our job to act on the risks, and learn how to take our own.
Nicole Angelina 