Random musings about Love. . .

http://www.mickaboo.org/newsletter/jul09/Hemingway.html

Hemingway the Surrealist Poet Parrakeet. Need i say more.
This is an adorable article.
and amazing.
it shows, i believe that animals know a lot more of what's going on than we generally give them credit for. there are different levels of understanding of course. ants and parrots don't have the same cognitive abilities, but then why should they.
i have always said birds are special. parrots operate from a very sophisticated level of emotional understanding. they hold grudges, they fall in love, the get angry, they throw fits, they forgive, they feel bad and they ask for forgiveness as well. they exhibit a whole range of emotions and are completely dependent on the emotions of their "flock" (rather, the people around them). while i am particularly fond of birds, i am an animal lover and i can honestly say often times i like them better than people.
people are mean. they are contradictory, telling you one thing then doubling back and pretending they never said it or realizing it was inconvenient and renigging on what they origianlly believed (not that that happened to me or anything). people have hold-ups, hang-ups, fears (logical or unlogical, generally the latter), inhibitions, pretenses, fronts, drama and just general ridiculousness. animals? not so much. birds can be emotionally manipulative and crafty, conning you into getting what they want, but that is still a far cry from a hidden agenda of say a manipulative relationship, since birds are usually only manipulating you for treats and play time.
animals love you unconditionally. they pick up on your bad-day energy and snuggle or make you laugh. they need attention and love and food and in return they will adore you forever. most importantly, the love they give doesn't have conditions, doesn't rest of whether or not it's convenient to be in love right now, doesn't obsess and build unrealizable romantic fantasies, doesn't mediate itself through false logics and absurd presuppositions. their love just is and is based on trust and understanding. it is basic and true, founded on the very essences of life and survival and a general thanks for the gifts and pleasures life can provide.
why then, i ask, cannot people give each other this kind of love. why does love have to be some kind of tenuously held together dance on eggshells? why can't we just base our feelings on trust and understanding, a general appreciation for the goodness in someone else and the joys that they bring us and we to them? why, in essence, can't love be simple? what can't a relationship exist where the bullshit is dropped and two people just exist together, just "being."
i trust. i am open and giving and i believe that this can be so. yet part of me always knows better. despite that i approach each situation with openness and trust, if and when i get my feelings trampled on i close up and lash out, or worse, i close up and i stop trusting. i don't want to stop trusting. i don't want to assume that simple, essential love cannot exist between two people.
but, for now i suppose, while i doggedly search, i will take the affections of a parrot over that of a person's any day. my feathered friend is always happy to see me, always happy to spend time with me, happy to hear about my day. simple, basic love and understanding.

simple, basic, love and understanding.
it should not be this hard.