oh hell with it...a commentary on need and want

ok, need and want. sure, we all experience each at different times. but ive noticed that the good name of want is often sullied when compared to its more "noble" cousin need. but is need really more noble?

imagine i steal a loaf of bread because i need it.

ok.

now imagine i steal a brownie because i want it.

need here is necessary even pitied while want is greedy and reviled. damn you want! you go too far! think of it. stoics, ascetics, monks and what-not are always so down on want. were supposed to tame desire. we should want less. do without want. this all speaks to the ignoble nature of our good friend want.

but is he always so bad? are there times when in fact, it is better to want than to need?

ive had friendships based on need. sometimes i needed them, sometimes they needed me. someone, anyone to chase loneliness away. at first it feels right, symbiotic, necessary. but as circumstances change, and they always do then what? what happens when need is no longer there? i'll tell you: the relationship whithers. it dies. there is no root.

here is where i think want (at least sometimes) trumps need. if i want a friend. there is something in particular about them that i like. that i desire. i dont need them. i want them. i will not die without, but it would make life a bit better. there is a foundation in such a relationship based on a liking that is less likely to fade as it does when dire need changes. i may at times need this person, but when need fades, i still want. want has roots.

Plus when you think on it, need is so unconscious, so primitive, so non-cognitive, so common, so unsoulful. its want that makes the best art. its want that makes us each different. speaks to the soul, sets us each apart. desire, longing.

i suppose want speaks to the soul more because God prefers the want relationship to the need relationship. its what free will is about. if someone "loved" you just out of need, what would happen if the need faded. so would their love.

we all need air. nothing romantic or higher order there. but we want love.