two types of people (vacation package)

in a conversation i was having with a friend a while ago, i had to refine my personal dictionary to two particular concepts. paradise and utopia .

you see, they aren't different in theory. both are heaven-like states of mind, situations, locales, relationships, escapes. both are states of perfection. both are the essense of beauty and poetic idealism. they are flawless. they are treasured and desired. they are both indescribably...good.

the difference is this though. utopia lasts forever, paradise doesn't.

paradise is a vacation. a tropical island that average american citizens take their spouses on their honeymoon. you go, eat, drink, dance, fuck, hold each other, repeat for 3 days and 4 nights and then go back to french kissing your boss' ass five days a week, cleaning your home on saturday, going to church on sunday and wishing there was an imaginary day between the sabbath and monday morning where you can go and hide under a rock for 45 minutes. paradise is shit. and as i start in get pulled into the firse season of LOST on dvd, i realize how true that is. no one wants to stay in paradise forever. because the utter truth is - the longer you are in paradise, the less it is paradise and the more it becomes "the place you happen to be". until another island sounds better.

utopia, on the other hand, is not a vacation. it is eternal paradise. it is not a temporary esacpe from the ordinary life. it is not a package deal for the family. it is not a 4-star hotel. utopia has nothing to do with the external, utopia is all about the individual. the vacation is at home, and it's every day. it's waking up to perfection and going to sleep to perfection. it's breathing bliss. it's living in infatuation. utopia is feeling your soul smile, not necessarily your mouth. if life is breakfast - paradise is eggs and bacon, a wonderful hot breakfast instead of the corn flakes you usually eat; utopia is corn flakes, the best damn bowl of corn flakes you've ever eaten...and it's that good every morning.

paradise is the prototype of utopia.

in the context of the conversation between my friend and i, what of relationships? when one realizes that your relationship is paradise, what should they do? should they continue to take the vacation as often as possible in order to visit a blissful state whenever it's convenient? and then, what does one do when they realize that by definition, utopia is a hypothetical state of mind, and that to find such on earth is heaven, ultimately rare, and may never be found.

should one give up paradise in search of utopia?

thats where my conversation ended.