Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Looking for Love in Purgatory

In parochial school I was always taught that purgatory was a get out of jail free card with probation. The condition set by the Catholic Church was if you are a sinner but not a hopeless unrepentant one, you can purge (thus purgatory) yourself of any of the seven deadly but popular sins (especially prevalent in my state of California).

 'Another list, given this time by the Epistle to the Galatians (Galatians 5:19-21), includes more of the traditional seven sins, although the list is substantially longer: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, "and such like".' -Wikipedia

Looking at this onerous list, I decided my dating life is somewhere on the lowest path leading up to 'The Envious'. Being one of 'The Proud' has been a tough place to start. If you know anything about pride, it is considered the worst of the seven deadly sins. Pride being at the top of my list means there is nowhere to go but up because nothing compares to the hell of dating.

As a Catholic, we were taught never to be proud. This has not stopped me wanting to be oppositionally defiant, super-competent, confident, and independent. The unfortunate consequence of this tends to intimidate males. I have wondered why having strong strategic, rational, and communicative skills acts like salt peter. Being a strong woman looks good on film but most men I've met don't know what to do with a self-sufficient woman. Thank God adultery, uncleanness, heresies, and murderings are not part of my pride complex.


'Pride (Latin, superbia), or hubris (Greek), is considered, on almost every list, the original and most serious of the seven deadly sins: the source of the others. It is identified as believing that one is essentially better than others, failing to acknowledge the accomplishments of others, and excessive admiration of the personal self (especially holding self out of proper position toward God); it also includes vainglory(Latin, vanagloria) which is unjustified boasting.'  -Wikipedia

Well, I wouldn't go that far but I wouldn't be surprised if men thought this way about me. Men who are insecure about their level of confidence, degree of intelligence, or ability to communicate, are quick to condemn competent women as 'ballbusters'. It is no surprise that this makes smart women question their attractiveness, sending them scurrying for plastic surgery to compensate. As a seasoned woman who desires but does not desperately need straight male companionship, I feel I have an advantage. Even though the dating process is tedious, at least I know who I am and what I want, giving me objectivity. Men desiring me to be more passive and less knowledgeable are quickly dispatched. This does make for slim pickings, however. Sometimes this process seem like the road to perdition but knowing I am in purgatory gives me hope I'll find another compatible with me who enjoys my quirky, intuitive qualities. 

This is a schizophrenic time for dating. Technology has replaced good manners, civility, and kindness. Being this is now the primary route for communicating, it complicates the already rough road of connecting with someone on an intimate level. Looking for love in purgatory is fraught with obstacles but at least I don't have to worry about envy, wrath, sloth, avarice, and gluttony. Lust, however, is another story.







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