Radioactive Love

Marie Curie (born Maria Sklodowska in Warsaw, Poland) is a woman that has been decorated numerous times for her contributions to science. Her work in the radioactivity field - she discovered radium and polonium - together with her husband has secured a place for her name amongst other great thinkers in history. How was her work so important to us, besides combating cancer and all, you ask? Well, she just invented a way to look into your body to find broken bones and injured organs without having to actually cut you open, that's all... X-rays, heard of it before?

Marie Curie and some of her buddies... You might have heard of the names Einstein, Planck and Rutherford, maybe?

Now, one cannot mention Curie without speaking about how she was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. Or the fact that she was the first person to win it twice, one for Physics and Chemistry each. In fact, if you read her biography, you'd see her name being associated to a lot of firsts. Pretty awesome right?

But aren't we forgetting something even more important here? Aren't we forgetting the person who had worked with her to achieve all these marvelous feats? Aren't we leaving out the person who won those Nobel Prizes with her (directly and indirectly)? Aren't we forgetting the 'Curie' in Marie Curie? Yes, her husband Pierre Curie. A physicist no less brilliant than her and just as passionate to do something for the world in the name of science.

And with that, I have finally arrived at my blog topic for today; Radioactive Love.

Marie Curie was born in a period of time where women in science were ridiculous notions. At that time, it was agreeable that women received some education, but not too much (no, that would be bad, of course.) She was born in middle-class family of scientific background, though they were just teachers. They earned enough to get by but did not dare dream of the riches. Pierre Curie was born in no better condition, but he was a man. That definitely made things slightly easier for him.

Their love story begins with them meeting as lab partners and eventually turning into life partners. Their marriage doesn't last long because Pierre dies in a tragic accident, but they have achieved enough to last many generations to come within that short frame of time, as you could probably already tell if you're reading this.

You don't develop courage by being happy in your relationships everyday. You develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity.Epicurus

What I find most intriguing about this story is that Pierre saw this woman's potential and wasn't intimidated by it. Consider the era they were living in for a bit. Can you imagine a man being so accepting of a woman wanting to learn so much? Here is a quote from one of his love letters to her. (You can read the whole letter here.)

"It would, nevertheless, be a beautiful thing in which I hardly dare believe, to pass through life together hypnotized in our dreams: your dream for your country; our dream for humanity; our dream for science."- Pierre Curie. 

Doesn't it make you want to go 'Awwwww...'? But sighs of adoration aside, this brings me to something else I have been itching to talk about. Let me start with a question.

Ladies, are your guys treating you right? And guys, your ladies?

They say it takes two to make it work, this complicated mechanism that people often refer to as a 'relationship', or more specifically, a romantic relationship. Now, I may not be an expert in this field (not at all, actually) but I do have common sense and a pair of eyes and ears. I've seen and heard a lot to have come up with my own theories and hypotheses. (Bear in mind, these are no conclusions, as they would have to be backed up by experimental evidence if they were. These are the workings of my imagination.)

I am a feminist. And if that gets you off on a rant about how feminists are too 'extreme', well, the truth is that they have to be in order to integrate the radical into normalcy - something like what Marie Curie did to pursue her passion. If the thought that a woman has the same voice as you - just a few pitches higher - challenges you to immediately fight against that notion, then you sir, are at the wrong place right now. If I told you that women are strong and the first evidence you look to to refute that is that we run away from cockroaches, then you sir, need to be educated.

That said, I won't go into a rant about girl power and being equals in a relationship and whatnots. These are the things most people already know (and blatantly ignore.) No, what I wanted to say goes both ways, I'll speak for the guys too. Have you already found that one word that identifies you as a person? Because that's what you are, a person. *gasp* You are an individual, you are unique and you do not have to be like anyone else to be special, 'cause baby you were born that way. Why do most of us rush to build a unit, a family institution or a society even, before we even discover who we are first?

To put it more simply: If you identified yourself using your partner and what he/she wants of you, who are you when he/she is no longer there for you? A nobody?

I have nothing against first loves or dating. Far from it. I'm just like any other girl, who sobs at the beauty of it all when reading of it and smiles like a fool when watching it in real life or in movies. All I'm against is the thought that to be in a relationship, both individuals would have to have the same outlooks on life and essentially, just merge into one state of being. Sharing interests and passions does not equate to adapting the other's way of life, mind you. It just means that you have found the perfect one for yourself. Love can be strengthening and motivating, but to think you have found it with the wrong one could have toxic repercussions.

Love could be radioactive. It would be relevant to be noted here that Marie Curie died of overexposure to radioactive elements. Connect the dots for yourselves...

I respect the men that know how to treasure their girls for all their uniqueness and becomes her support system in achieving her full potentials. I respect all the women that stand strong behind their men, encouraging and pushing them to go that much further. I respect the couples that know how to work their individual minds into their relationship and let it strive, instead of letting it shrivel and die in some dark, lonely corner. I respect people who want more for themselves because they know they deserve it.

The Curie couple...

In conclusion, I respect the 'Pierre and Marie Curie' concept. This is the kind of love that blooms, flourishes, nurtures and withstands the tides of time. This is the kind of love story that should be inspiring the young ones and I speak not of their love for each other alone. I speak of their love for science, humanity and their countries.

So why the hurry? Why the need to tie that one girl/boy down the first chance you get? Why can't you wait for the right one to come? There are things you could be doing meanwhile. Like what, you're probably thinking. Ummm.... I don't know, something like focusing on figuring out your goals first, perhaps? Or finding out what makes you truly happy?

To end this post, let me finish off with the kind of people I do NOT respect:

1. The kind that want to mould their partners to match their needs.
2. The kind that do not show respect themselves.

I'd like to hear, what kind of people do you not respect?

Thank you for reading!