Let’s not create unnecessary words!
Heartfelt speech by Anna Atsu
This won't be an article; it's a speech because I'll be using capitalised words for emphasis.
Unnecessary words... Don't get me wrong; I love creating new words that add value unless they're truly UNNECESSARY. Let me share my reaction to a title on this platform that sparked anger within me. I'm unsure if what I'm doing is legal, but I hope it brings attention to your article, dear writer. I didn't read it; I only despised the title—it encouraged UNLOVING! While you may feel that such action is necessary in certain circumstances, it's like telling a grieving woman she'll have another child!
Let me explain why I oppose 'unlove.' You might love sunsets but no longer watch them, or you may have loved the symphony but lost your hearing. You might love your grown children differently, but it doesn't mean you've stopped loving. Love transcends current experiences.
What I agree with, based on those examples and any other I can think of, you can start hating. But hate is not what we need, besides hate doesn't replace love. You might love and hate or hate and love, but 'unlove' isn't a valid concept. I'm against including this word in any thesaurus. It contradicts what we, as humanitarian beings, have learned and felt, encouraging conflict and war—something we neither wish for nor need. I'm writing this on the day when "the head of the British army warned UK citizens to be prepared for a war on the scale of the great conflicts of the 20th Century."
I won't delve into politics, suspecting that the author meant something more personal. However, the title deterred me from exploring further.
I like listening to the stories and I believe you like it too, that’s why you are still reading. Let me then tell you a real story. I know, all stories are real, but not all could be true. This one is a real and true story from my life. Let me share it:
Once, I had a friend, a platonic love from beginning to end. Maybe it's fellowship or friendship; definitions aren't my concern. I'm here to discuss the right of certain words to enter dictionaries. I'm not against strong words or swear words if needed. I never tried to label what others call fascination, love, or friendship, focusing on embracing the richness of words, images, sounds, and thoughts. Our world was a blend of fun, laughter, ridicule, darkness, and sorrow. We intertwined with words, challenging each other's minds, laughing, and crying. It was beautiful.
Before he was to accept his new career he wrote that he wouldn't pursue his goals if I asked him to stay. I replied, literally on a piece of toilet paper, with my lips stamped in lipstick: 'Go...' I never stopped loving him. We saw each other occasionally. He was there when I met my husband, and I met his wife-to-be and a widow-to-be in the same person.
He started to avoid my gaze as soon as he knew, shielding me from a truth I always knew. We had so many conversations about death years before. But he always felt his destination, he didn’t know until that CT scan results I learnt about many months later. My soul always knew he would die, and I DON'T DO DEATH, so my altruistic love for him told me to let him become who he wanted to become and my egoistic love told me to protect myself. I didn't attend his funeral. I bid him farewell on that piece of paper, signed with my lipstick.
Let us not ‘unlove’. We all need love.
Read the news on some days and poems every day.
Don't read private thesauruses and dictionaries.