7 Things I Learned From Damon Salvatore
By Sana Shaikh
1. To Love Passionately
Love like it’s all you’ve got! That all-consuming, larger-than-life, can-only-exist-in-a-faraway-universe love. Something that might get you that weird ‘look’ when you speak of it and actually say it out loud it in front of people. Damon teaches you to believe in it. Hell, even raise your long lost love from an underground crypt because you love them.
2. That it is Okay to Lose It Every Once In A While
It is abso-freakin’-lutely fine to snap every now and then. While it is highly not advisable to lie on the road, in the middle of nowhere, feigning death and then going straight for the jugular and sucking the life out of an unsuspecting individual just because you are going through a bad break up, but it is alright to vent.
3. To Be Your Own Person
The fact that most of us live our lives following the rules set by someone else or based on what others think about us is a waste of our identity. Many people view Damon as a cocky son of a bitch who doesn’t give a shit about anyone. Well, he just cares about things and people in his life but doesn’t necessarily rub it in your face until you suffocate or try to act noble and self-righteous. He is what he is and he doesn’t care what the world thinks of him (this one’s for my sister, she’s Team Stefan, by the way). Damon teaches us to be what we truly are – not someone else’s idea of you.
4. To Shut It Off
A recurring theme that I come across on almost all things vampire is the power to shut it off enabling you to shut your mind, body and soul to something that you would rather not feel. Pain, anguish, heartbreak, anger, hatred or any other emotion that you would want to do away with. To not give a damn, be selfish and save yourself from mental torture by cranking up that void inside you, diminishing the agony within.
5. To Be Weak and Vulnerable but Never Show It
Yes, he gets hurt. But he copes with it in his own ways. His character’s got so many different and complex layers and with each season we get to see that time when Damon Salvatore is weak and exposed but he never lets it out. He bottles up all his rage and torment (centuries of torment), he does good when he can, he messes up but always maintains the walls. Sometimes walls are important, indispensable too. They keep you from getting hurt.
6. To Do the Eye Thing
Yes! Oh I how I love the ‘eye-thing’. I’m sure every girl knows what effect those beautiful eyes have on them. Pure havoc! The brooding thing, the smoldering look that he’s got going on 24/7, the flirty stare, the I’m Being Naughty look, the Intense Gaze that has us all swooning and ogling the TV screen. Lesson Learnt: If you’ve got pretty eyes that sparkle, then use them to your benefit.
7. To Do Anything Possible to Protect the Ones You Love
Even if it means killing yourself to bring your brother back. The same brother who hooked your vampire self on blood in the first place. He would do whatever it takes to ensure the safety of the people in your life that you can’t live without. Even if it means enduring the harshest of punishments or going through unfathomable pain.