I’ve always viewed love as the sort of thing that can never be mastered and those who say that they have mastered it are simply fools. Surprisingly, the Rose Scholars event I attended Monday has changed my mind. Romantic relationships, in particular, usually feels like nothing but a giant puzzle to me but after some insight by GRFs Antonio and Andrew along with a very interesting article by Emily Smith I realized that there are two keys to successful relationships. Love boils down to kindness and compassion, when both people practice both the relationship could very well be the sort of thing that leads to 70 year marriages. A major point that jumped out to me was the fact that when you enter a relationship you really have to be on the ball, the slightest bit of indifference or disinterest could sour the whole thing. Personally, I’ve always felt that the guys are usually the first to screw up the relationship by being either clueless or saying the wrong thing at the wrong time (not like I’ve ever done anything like that). After hearing some of my fellow scholars’ thoughts on this I found that it is really on a case by case basis. For example, GRF Andrew didn’t screw up his long distance relationship with his now wife, they both put in a ton of effort and it truly paid off. Heck, he is probably the closest thing to a master of love that I’ve ever seen.
The event as a whole was extremely fun, especially since Mondays usually suck for me and give me nightmares. The joke that GRF Antonio told about when a guy knows he is in love still has me cracking up, the guy should do stand-up. I also enjoyed meeting and connecting with more Rose Scholars whose thoughts on this particular subject were highly intriguing. Having a discussion in a small group setting was a nice experience and definitely something I’d do again.
Each Rose Scholars event teaches me something new and reminds me that I still have a ton to learn about practically every area of life. I can’t wait to attend more great events like this in the future.
Clarence, it looks like this event has really changed your perspective on love! Honestly, I’m probably more on the lines of seeing love as a kind of naive, blind thing that people seem to fall into. Reading your blog and how your entire viewpoint changed on this broad, ever-present concept has inspired me to keep an open mind on some strong and unwavering opinions I have (and my list of these opinions is quite long…) I’m also really glad that you’re finding interesting things each week through Rose Scholars!
To be honest I’m usually very cynical when it comes to love but these Rose events are really opening my mind. I wouldn’t say I’ve had an Ebenezer Scrooge level transformation yet but if I attend more of these kinds of events I just may!
Hey Clarence, Great post, I’m glad you enjoyed the event and that it challenged and changed your thinking. It is always a good thing to be flexible enough in mind to let your mind change if you encounter strong evidence. Good for you in having an open mind. Best of luck as you wrap up exams.
Cheers,
Andrew
I really enjoyed your reflection on this post. I do agree that sometimes it seems like in the beginning phases of a relationship it can be so volatile, and often the guys are the one who have more to do with this. However, women also can mess it up. I believe that everyone has the ability to be a master of love, but to do that you have to be with the right person. Maybe not everybody can be a master, as some do not know how to love, but of those that do, it definitely takes the right person.