* Romanticizing the Enemy *

A famed philosopher once wrote, "Tell me who your enemy is and I will tell you who you are." 

While this is a realistic approach to identity, I can't help but wonder: is there no other way of defining ourselves?

Are we forever bound to define our existence through an aggressive stance and a relationship of hatred? Are we that limited, to be nothing else but the opposite of the Other? 

I refuse to believe that negative Energy has the last word in the history of humanity. 

If we hold our truths to be those of Nature, then our observation is that everything is twofold. Male and female. Positive and negative. Sun and moon. Black and white. Therefore, Nature itself teaches us that every story has two sides, every being is necessary and so is its opposite. Both are correct, both are needed for the continuation of Life. 

Thus, yes, it is true that if you know your Opponent, you can find yourself. But with a slight adjustment: the opponent is not the perceived enemy we consider it to be. 

Because the Others too, are doing nothing but attempting to place themself within reality and define their identity. Subjective reality may, after all, be the only reality we are capable of perceiving. 

It leaves me thinking that our very survival depends on this Other, this Enemy. 

Image - The False Mirror, René Magritte