Desire

Have you ever wanted something so bad it physically hurts? Had your sights set on something and your brain won't let go of it? Desire implies a wish, maybe a wish for something unobtainable. Desire implies a craving, the force of physical appetite. But what are you craving? What do you desire? This kinda follows in line with my Wanting Is Better Than Having post.

I've had this discussion many times before, with many people. Do you truly want it or would you just like it? There is a huge distinction between want and like. Want implies a desire; it implies that I will do whatever it takes to get it. Like ... well like is just a wish. You know: "I'd like to win the lottery." You really can't want to win the lottery, it's just luck, so you really can't do anything about it. If the lottery is just a wish, a dream, and you can only "like" it, what question would you have to ask to "want" it. It's a different question. The question is more "I want to be rich" ... and even more than that, maybe it's "I want money not to matter by the time I'm 40." Now that's a different question, a different want.

In acting they ask you "what's your want?" What will you do anything to get? What's your real motivation? They don't ask "what would you like" because liking something is just a wish ... it doesn't force you to do something ... well anything.

So here's my question: "What do you crave?", "What do you desire?", "What pulls you from your sleep and won't let go of you?" ... could be a person, place or thing ... could be an idea. But don't pretend to want something when you only would just like it. We do that all the time. If you want something you'll do whatever it takes to get it. If you just like something ... well then you'll have the fantasy (you know the "I wonder what it would be like to be rich") but you wont do anything about it ... at least not anything serious.

So "What Do You Desire?"

See you on the wire

-- Steven Cardinale