Watch Me Entertain Myself!

Sacha Guitry once said, "You can pretend to be serious, but you can't pretend to be witty." Oh yes, I'm the great pretender.
(pilot episode: 20 January 2004)

Friday, October 03, 2008

The Emancipation Of McVie

“Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn’t it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up. You build up all these defenses, you build up a whole suit of armor, so that nothing can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different from any other stupid person, wanders into your stupid life… you give them a piece of you. They didn’t ask for it. They did something dumb one day, like kiss you or smile at you, and then your life isn’t your own anymore. Love takes hostages. It gets inside you. It eats you out and leaves you crying in the darkness, so simple a phrase like ‘maybe we should be just friends’ turns into a glass splinter working its way into your heart. It hurts. Not just in the imagination. Not just in the mind. It’s a soul-hurt, a real gets-inside-you-and-rips-you-apart pain. I hate love.”

– Neil Gaiman

* * * * *

I hate it. I stumbled upon this quote from one of my most favorite authors of all time, and it just… argh. Thank god I’ve moved on. Had I read this a few months ago, I’d have flipped. Well, you wouldn’t have seen me flip; I wouldn’t have let you. But my friends would know. And that’s why I refused to be your friend. I refused to be close to you, at least for now. I refused to be your hostage anymore.

I set myself free of you, and that’s that.

16 comments:

Aris said...

ouch! bullseye ako! i hate love. but then again...

joelmcvie said...

@ARIS: "But then again..." is the eventual downfall of all of us, hahaha.

Anonymous said...

guilty.

Tristan Tan said...

No Comment. Hahaha ;)

Joaqui said...

Every line is drenched in honesty. One way or the other, I think we all felt this.

blagadag said...

i had realizedthis long ago and I told myself, ayoko ng umibig at muling masaktan. But then, when I stopped loving, life was so dull. I wasn't happy. Then I met a guy and fall in love again. I just let my heart beat normally again and my friends told me I am blooming. Okay lang masaktan. It's a natural process. The more you love, the better you do and avoid hurting yourself. Sabi nga nila, makibaka, wag matakot. Go on.

joelmcvie said...

@BLAGADAG: I've no problem with falling in love. But when the other guy already said, "Let's just be friends", then I see the wisdom of freeing yourself from the trap you've fallen into.

Anonymous said...

hahaha... i went through that same friggin' experience more than a month ago. it freakin' f**ked up my system. my solution: paint the effing feeling out and be defiant.

dang!

Penny Lane said...

I was once a hostage too, but I ran away and set myself free. This post tells me how far I have reached since then. Thanks, McVie!

Ming Meows said...

But then again...I'm single!

Looking For The Source said...

lintik na pagmamahal. choz!

ha ha.

hay. neil gaiman, the author of stardust. i love stardust.

Anonymous said...

ouch ouch ouch....IM A HOSTAGE!!!! has been and still is... so shot me.. haaay love, damn love!! kaya nga my anthem right now is self inflicted by Katy Perry.

Anonymous said...

lets just be friends is the we'll call you equivalent of falling in love. and who knew neil gaiman was such a rom0antic.

. said...

The next time I am in the brink of being hostage to my emotions, I will keep Gaiman's quote in mind. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Is this from the graveyard book?

joelmcvie said...

@DAN: Not sure, just stumbled upon the quote from another site. Is the graveyard book already on shelves?