Happy things I find online

In my previous posts I've disclosed that I was a graduate of literary studies and to some extent I've pursued higher learning in literary scholarship. As a human resources professional one may think that I'd have a gradual falling out of touch with the subject matter and would fail to keep abreast with the developments in the literary world (save for the tremendously popular books that come along every now and then). However, I do think that the students of the humanities make for the best kind of managers.

The logic is, they start out being trained as humans first and in the appreciation of things human. They can learn all things mathematical and mechanistic in due course. In an ideal world, I would have future hires in management be graduates of humaties (liberal arts) courses first, MBAs subsequently, and participation in an ongoing program in the school of hard knocks.

As you can see in the things Im consuming, I've been fortunate to have been able to maintain a voracious reading habit - though for the most part I read philosophy books, non-fiction, and novels. What I haven't been able to continue reading is poetry.

Thank goodness for the internet. There are so many poetry resources. Today I discovered Wyslawa Szymborzka.

True Love

True love. Is it normal
is it serious, is it practical? What does the world get from two people
who exist in a world of their own?

Placed on the same pedestal for no good reason,
drawn randomly from millions but convinced
it had to happen this way - in reward for what?
For nothing.
The light descends from nowhere.
Why on these two and not on others?
Doesn't this outrage justice? Yes it does.
Doesn't it disrupt our painstakingly erected principles,
and cast the moral from the peak? Yes on both accounts.

Look at the happy couple.
Couldn't they at least try to hide it,
fake a little depression for their friends' sake?
Listen to them laughing - its an insult.
The language they use - deceptively clear.
And their little celebrations, rituals,
the elaborate mutual routines -
it's obviously a plot behind the human race's back!

It's hard even to guess how far things might go
if people start to follow their example.
What could religion and poetry count on?
What would be remembered? What renounced?
Who'd want to stay within bounds?

True love. Is it really necessary?
Tact and common sense tell us to pass over it in silence,
like a scandal in Life's highest circles.
Perfectly good children are born without its help.
It couldn't populate the planet in a million years,
it comes along so rarely.

Let the people who never find true love
keep saying that there's no such thing.

Their faith will make it easier for them to live and die.

Wislawa Szymborska

Isn't that just great? Such a funny jibe at the cynics of love. Peter Senge (yes, that guy who wrote extensively on systems thinking and the learning organization) wrote,

"...scratch the surface of most cynics and you'll find a frustrated idealist - someone who made the mistake of converting one's ideals into expectations."

Well, easy for me to quote - being in such a wonderful relationship myself. It's just one of those times that the internet really makes your day.