The ones That Matter

The Ones That Matter

“The art of losing isn’t hard to master” (1 Bishop).  Loss is one of the most feared phenomena in the world… and it is unbelievably common.  While losing may be frightening, Elizabeth Bishop, in her poem “One Art,” sees loss as, actually, one of the least disastrous things in the world when under the correct circumstances.  Material loss has enveloped the human brain since its birth, but is material loss truly devastating?  While Elizabeth Bishop argues that it may not be, she hints toward the horrific aspects of some loss.  Loss, when involving loved ones, can truly be one of the most disastrous experiences possible.  

When losing material things, “their loss is no disaster” (3).  All material things have the ability to be replaced.  Some fairly easily, and some maybe not.  Elizabeth Bishop believes that people fear the art of losing too much at any point in time.  Material objects truly do nothing to alter a person.  They simply provide entertainment for humans, provide time wasting activities for humans, or simply grip our attention… but every day we should lose something.  We should “accept the fluster of lost door keys, the hour badly spent” (4-5) simply because we need to grow used to it.  Losing, being a very easy to master art (1) should not frighten anyone.  How can something so unbelievably common, be at all surprising when it occurs?  From the time people are born, they are taught not to lose anything, simply out of fear of replacing.  Humans grow incredibly complacent with their surroundings, sometimes to the point that the simple removal of one single object could throw them into a frenzy; while the frenzy may be completely unnecessary, it is because they viewed the object as a pivotal part of their life, which it truly isn’t capable of being.  Bishop hopes that people begin to “lose farther, and lose faster” (7) simply because “none of these will bring disaster” (9).  If people begin to lose things, then the fear of losing, which has encapsulated humans since their genesis, will be no more.  Humans can finallylive freely, without their extraneous and unnecessary fears.  

Losing begins to be disastrous is when loved ones are involved.  While material things have the ability to be replaced, loved ones hold bounds in ones’ heart that are irreplaceable.  No matter how much money, time, and resources you have, loved ones cannot be revived.  While people may try to act as if losing people is easy, we “shan’t have lied” (17).  Human interaction is one of the most fragile things the world has ever seen.  Whether it be between a girl from high school and her crush, a husband and his wife, or a president and his or her nation, the interaction is incredibly unique.  Humans are able to induce emotions in one another, which no inanimate object is capable of doing.  Humans are able to guide others though conversation, they are able to teach each other through their interactions, and they are able to destroy each other through confrontation.  The menacing capabilities which humans have over fellow humans is truly terrifying, and that is why losing the ones you love is so disastrous.  Children learn from their elders, and grow up with an incredibly close-knit group of them.  These influencers completely shape these clean slates and, in most cases, are admired to unparalleled degrees by the youth which they raised.  It is when these people are gone; the people who were there when you first learned to ride a bike, the people who were there when you took your first steps and spoke your first words and the people who were there when you had nowhere else to look, that losing becomes disastrous.  While humans may view the loss of a loved one as just another rendition of losing, they are, in fact, losing a piece of themselves with it.  We may miss things, but they do not lead to disaster (15) quite like losing people does.