![image.png](https://images.ecency.com/DQmR18Jmni4oe6YJ5G21VktA2TeDKdczdreninpRQ9NdkbH/image.png)


***
If love makes the world go round, sex, it seems, is what makes it come undone ... Whis the difference between love and lust?  How can you tell when you are in the grip of it?  What did St. Augustine mean, exactly, when he said, Love & do as you will ?

How is it that the most creative force in the world, when not properly harnessed, might turn into the most destructive?  I don't know, but I do know that desires denied a natural outlet will not quietly die, but rather cunningly exit in masquerade. 

Even Art, for example, under restrictive regimes has tended to develop a flair for allegory – confessing in code, or through the use of symbolism. As Borges shrewdly notes, *Censorship is the mother of metaphor.*

These, of course, are questions at the forefront of the #metoo movement in the West, which has seen many celebrated and beloved figures toppled in various industries (politics, entertainment, etc...) for abuse of powers and sex crimes.

Born and raised in Egypt, and living in the United States, now (for around 15 years, I can say that it seems neither the 'permissive' West, nor the 'oppressive' Middle East appear able to strike the right balance. When on the news and in personal lives, I see the chaos and recklessness of sexuality omnipresent, my mind turns to an Ancient Greek tragedian, Sophocles, who said:

>The male libido is like being chained to a lunatic.
***
[Original picture taken on the beach of Rio, Brazil]

Plus ça change...