are some relationships “disposable?”

The disposable. Do you realize how much stuff we throw away? How temporary everything has become?

Nothing seems to last anymore.. clothing, home décor, even music goes out of style within a few months.  Industries are built around the disposable: plates, silverware, food containers.. I even recently saw [and found myself mildly obsessed with the thought of actually possessing] a single-use  video camera.  When I was growing up, video cameras were Christmas presents, substantial gifts. Now we can buy disposable ones at Rite Aid.

I thought of the fantastic things that could be done with a disposable video camera.. the risks I’d take.

..the risks I’d take.

Risks, meaning the way I’d handle the camera. Who cares if it breaks. It was cheap, I could buy another one. Besides that, if it doesn’t  turn out great, it was after all.. a cheap experiment.

Which is fine.

Sort of.

As long as we’re talking about our stuff.

As long as I’m not using that same kind of careless risking on my relationships. People are not disposable, but in a world of mass produced, in-one-season-out-the-next, I can start looking at friendship, relationship or even marriage through this paradigm.

People are investments. Sure, relationships have seasons and some of them lead us to go our separate ways in the end. But that’s different than throwing something in the trash. And it’s definitely different than beginning a relationship with the assumption that it was cheap to begin with.

Our cities, with stories of rejection pouring out of every door of every house, vehicle and office.. is in need of a little more permanency.

I guess sometimes commitment is the only thing that reveals the real value of something.. or someone.