“If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. “

C. S. Lewis

Desire & Disdain

Desire is a longing or craving; as for something that brings satisfaction or enjoyment. Disdain is a feeling of contempt for anything regarded as unworthy; haughty contempt; scorn.

Desire can be a positive motivator, but it can also be harmful, making someone dissatisfied with what they already have, and thus desire can lead to unhappiness. Once a person decides they want something, it creates a realization that they don’t have it, which creates a little hole inside that grows. Desire is an ache, a lack.

How does disdain contradict desire? One is drawn to something that is desired and repulsed by feelings of disdain. One must also see oneself as better than another or others to feel disdain, and thus not lack  of anything and thus not feel desire. Of course, that’s not true, because disdain is projection. Those who look down on others, only do so because they feel inept. The ache of desire for approval, or love, or praise, has rotted them from the inside and made them unable to empathize, instead judging those they do not know as unworthy of compassion.

Today’s Images

How will I show the disdain in desire and the desire in disdain? For disdain, I stood on a step ladder to get the view of looking down on the mirrorworld. Thinking of the inner hole, the ache of both desire and disdain, I used the filter I created yesterday, for the calm in chaos, and used the Partial Color setting in my camera that makes everything gray scale except for one color. There are four color choices: red, green, blue, and yellow. I found it interesting that the colors on the plastic filter didn’t trigger the effect. I also love the interplay between the yellows and the gray.

The Prompts

NaPoWriMo

Today’s prompt is “write a poem in which laughter comes at what might otherwise seem an inappropriate moment – or one that the poem invites the reader to think of as inappropriate.”

Poem A Day

Today’s prompt is a title prompt: “(noun) in (location).”

The Poem

Disdain in Desire

Desire is a dusty place with nothing much to offer
dry sunny day after sunny day discouraged life-giving waters
and the sunken-eyed stringy clingers are quick to let you know
“Hey, I ain’t much to look at! Even my Momma tells me so!”
Then smile wide and laugh and laugh, a strange little whistle laugh,
but don’t look too close to find the sound or you may fall into the gap
and don’t disdain, don’t judge their worth based on first impressions
because most desire holds a warm fire of good intentions
and those who have resilience to cling and not move on
still have hope, and that is worth more than what’s beyond.