eudaimonia & anagnorisis

I’m not sure if unconditional love exists in the Arab world. Most sub-par societal relations (especially between men and women) are mistakenly attributed to Islam, but this is one that may actually ring true. I haven’t fully gathered my thoughts on the matter, but the concept of conditionality and companionship seem intimately intertwined based on my experiences here. I base my observations from the Qu’ran, person experience, and stories from the lovely ladies in my life who have “been there and done that” along the Arab/Muslim dating scene in a particularly jaded or cynical fashion. All I can safely conclude is unconditional feelings are far more natural in a modern secular society than a society infused with one main religious dogma. Is this because humans may actually be incapable of unconditional feelings? Is this because society is more stable and predictable with conditions and expectations? Is this because conditions ensure obedient behavior? Obedience, to me, is a tricky word - along with submission and conditions. There is some point at which these words become, what D.H Lawrence would consider, anti-Life (Lawrence, a deeply spititual dude, argues there is no sin, simply things we do that limit life and things we do that enhance life). At what point does obedience to each other become dominance over one another? At what point does submission change from an act of humility to an act of idiocy? At what point do conditions terrify us out of being ourselves? These thoughts need not be entertained more than momentarily, but still seemed worth noting. I am only stuck on this “unconditional feelings” idea because I learned a new word in Arabic this week عميق, ameeq. It means ‘deep’, like deeeeeeeeeep. And I think it is these unconditional feelings (rooted somewhere deeeeeeep in our souls) that lead us to what the Greeks refered to as ‘human eudaimonia’, or human flourishing, which – no matter where you’re from or how you identify yourself – is probably the point of all our little efforts on this planet. So here’s to human flourishing and unconditional feelings and a weekend-much-needed….alHamdulila, It’s Thursday! And almost TGIF, for my readers across the Atlantic.