"Women always want a 6th Act “~Oscar Wilde
Most recently this quote has been haunting me, I read it a while back in The Picture of Dorian Gray and it has stuck with me ever since. These past few days I have dreamt of, analyzed and over-analyzed this quote and it keeps telling me the same thing--Jess, sometimes things need to end. With recent events in my life, I've come to find this quick epigram alarmingly true. Here, Oscar means that women are always looking for more, even when the play has officially ended and the curtain falls, we women still want a continuation of something that has clearly reached its finish. Now I'm not only accusing women of this, I'll tell you Oscar, that I know plenty of men that don't know how to end anything, or allow anything to be ended. I've found that we has human beings easily grasp on to the "what ifs" in life rather than the "what ares" and I constantly find myself daydreaming of infinite possibilities rather than living in the present. There are so many things that I want to be true that just aren't, and there are many lies I conjure in my head that I wish I could make true. I've always had a thought in my head that if something is good and wonderful that it will last forever. But the truth is, when something is euphoric it usually has an expiration date. And as humans, who think that everything should last forever this is a hard concept for us to grasp. We are constantly bombarded with products that are supposed to prolong the skin's youth and hair luster. We live in a society where our number one goal is to make something last as long as possible. We are so concerned with the longevity of a situation that we forget to enjoy its present state of being. A fear of something being finite drives our society to work harder, live longer and preserve every bit of beauty that we can before it’s gone. It is important for us to know that every beautiful sunset will meet its dusk and every sunrise will transform into a dawn. I've been working harder at enjoying what I can while I have it and knowing that not everything good will last forever. It is much nicer to enjoy a chocolate cake while it's right in front of you, rather than freezing it hoping to keep it for eternity. Sometimes it's nice to know that something is there rather than enjoying it. I remember as a kid, I would sometimes leave toys in the box in the hopes that I wouldn't ruin them. But that isn't what a toy is for. I constantly have to remind myself that everything must be taken out of its box--even if you risk ruining it. Even if opening that box causes hard to mend cracks and holes, it is better to know that something was utilized rather than forgotten. Mountains weren't only meant to be revered but to be climbed, an ocean isn't meant to just be studied but to be surfed.
In the dire hope of preservation we end up causing more damage than harm to ourselves. We were meant to enjoy the 5th act and then move on to a 1st. And my final thought on this subject is not all good things will last for eternity. But if you know something is worth keeping, hold onto it with everything you have. Every once in a while the audience will demand an encore.
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