So glad I live in a fishbowl!

I am sick yet again. I really, really hate being sick. But despite the pounding headache, the relentless cough, the ears being plugged and throbbing, and the constant snot (so gross I know), today was actually a good day.

Today I indulged in some "sick traditions." I watched Empire Records (a movie I discovered when I was home sick one day from school making it what it is today: my token sick movie). I read The Giver (a comforting quick read). The only thing I lacked of my traditions was my Red Wings sweatshirt. It's at home in my sister's closet.

So I was reading The Giver, a book I've read dozens upon dozens of times, and something stood out to me that never had before. Here is an excerpt:

"Jonas nodded. "I liked the feeling of love," he confessed... "I wish we still had that. Of course I do understand that it wouldn't work very well. And that it's much better to be organized the way we are now. I can see that it was a dangerous way to live."

"What do you mean?"

Jonas hesitated. He wasn't certain, really, what he had meant. He could feel that there was risk involved, though he wasn't sure how."

I think you need to read the entire book in order to better understand how this passage hit me, but I love it because there is risk in love. And yes, making the community in the story completely safe was a way to make sure no one was hurt. But in keeping people from pain, they sacrificed love.

It makes that old cliche so true: Tis better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all. Love is a risk, but it's well worth it, don't you think?

Peace,
Cat