Desire is frequently a tyrannical and selfish tormentor, it grows at night and fattens during the day. Lord and master of the impossible, king of the chimera, he takes control of the will of being until he enslaves him, until he becomes only flesh, only heartbeat. You cannot argue with him, because there is no victorious reason over greed, it is insatiable hunger with a bottomless stomach. He always asks for more in the face of fear of emptiness, there is no containment possible, it is never enough, you never want what you have. We long for what others have. Why do others have it, why not me? There is no wine capable of quenching such thirst when envy takes control.
With the new year, desires are renewed, the noble, the unspeakable, the petty, the lustful, the original, the Manichaeans, those that are in fashion, those that went out of style, the humble, the arrogant, those that are above our possibilities and those who are below. Since dreaming is free, we wish big, we dream of giants, suspecting that sooner or later, they will become nomes. After all, the imaginary has windows to renew the stale air, but it lacks doors.
Bells ring and between grape and grape, the desires worn out by obtained die, what interest has what has already been achieved, what we consider our own. You have to covet new things, to discard them as soon as we put them in the backpack. We consider a new year of conquests, counting the successes as if they were ancient coins that we pile up without paying much attention to them. We end up confusing losing with not winning, not knowing what to eat with not having what to eat. Life is to use and throw away, it is disposable, it is bottled in a non-returnable container. Everything adds up to forgetfulness, consciously or unconsciously, we rig our perception so as not to value anything we have achieved, to always be starting over.
Yuck reinventions!
Fortunately, not all desire is material, the noble longing for a world without easy blood is not hard and fast. There are many desires that only seek the good, happiness, love, friendship, justice… but in the eyes of the planet and of Miss Universe, everything seems sappy, sensitive and dripping. You have to dominate the world, glory or defeat, that is the dichotomy. In the supreme is the only goal, the genius, the extraordinary, the supernatural; the XXL size triumphs, if not successful we must apply the samurai code of the bushido, and do the hara-kiri. Failure is not an option.
I miss the old Frank Capra movies, in which small anonymous characters bravely fight for collective desires, paying a high price, yes, but being rewarded in the end, with the medal of courage of dignity. What happened to the gentlemen? Without a sword and the Juans Nobody? George Baily, wished he had never been born, until a plump angel showed him the importance of each of the individuals that make up a society and thus end up thinking that despite everything it is beautiful to live.
Desiring is not bad in itself, but it is the despicable quality of what is wanted. Many pay the price for ambitious stupidity. You have to be very careful what you wish for, because it may come true and the dream turns into a nightmare. I imagine Aladdin’s Genie, settled in his narrow cabin, dying of laughter when he concedes the bullshit that occurs to the unwary who rubs an oil lamp. Not even being very lucky, the world is as beautiful as we imagine it in our generous dreams.
On these endearing dates, we all wish well, although more than one sounds more false than a dandy in espadrilles. It costs nothing to have good wishes, they are almost never fulfilled, and if they do, nobody checks them, nobody keeps track. Let’s not be stingy then with wishes. May we all win the lottery, may there be a three-Michelin-star restaurant on every corner, with a menu for five Euros, may Reggaeton disappear forever, may our income tax returns be returned to all of us, may all the teams win the mushroom league After all, desire is one of the few things that no one can ever take away from us.