The Little Prince

by Skald

The Little Prince is one of those books Ive heard about for years but never got around to reading. I finally borrowed it from a student and read it today. Its a very nice little book.

I suppose the take-home message has to do with love. We love when we accept someone exactly as they are and when we also accept responsibility to care for them... and help them realize their dreams and full potential.

What "The Little Prince" hinted at... but didnt say strongly enough.. is that its not necessarily easy. Its easy to SAY "Accept and love someone as they are". But what that means, in practice, is that we accept the things we dont agree with, dont understand, or just dont like!

It also means we dont try to change them to be more like we want them to be. Rather, we encourage them to be their best.. to do that which brings them bliss.. even if it takes them away from us... or makes our life more difficult.

Hmmm. Ive been accused of being a romantic and I suppose I am. But I also find great fault with most romantic movies and books. They emphasize the initial attraction... the game of "winning" each other over. But they never show what comes after that.

To my mind, love does not really begin until after that... after the "game".. after the posturing. Ive never been too fond of the game stage and never have been very good at it.

For I believe its the sublime, difficult, intriguing, mysterious, ambiguous, maddening, inspiring, heart-breaking, awesome process that comes later that is most important. Love is about what happens AFTER the movie ends.