So here i am actually starting a blog. I like to write and actually have thought about doing this for some time but like any other writer, i start things, stop, get distracted and finally end up scrapping concepts until i come up with another idea. It seems that all of my ideas i have about novels and writing usually center around men, women, and relationships. Recently i thought perhaps a blog, i wouldn't have to be as committed to writing as i would if i were writing a 350 page novel. Plus, i can whip this out in an hour or two and i don't have to necessarily be so perfect with my adjectives matching with my verbs and learning different writing techniques to engage the reader. I figure people will enjoy it or not and if they don't they won't read it so here i am.
With it being February 14th yesterday, the mass produced and commercialized Valentines Day, i have contemplated what that day means to people. For some it is a forced gift giving holiday trying to find that perfect gift to make our significant other "happy" and or pleased with us. Others view it as a day of canoodling, romantic dinners, spending time with our loved ones etc...
I went to see Valentines Day, the movie, over the weekend, and was pleasantly surprised with it. Great all star cast and interesting concoctions of relationships in the movie as experienced by the characters in the day of the life of Valentines Day in Los Angeles. Some of the different relationships included, an older married couple, a single woman with a divorced man or so she thinks until she discovers he is still married, a same sex couple, a mother trying to make it home to her young son, and of course the undying passionate teenage love. I liked the movie as it got me thinking about how many different types of love relationships there are out there in the world. All of them very important to each person experiencing them. I thought a lot about love over the weekend and what makes love real for people or more precisely what makes people feel loved and or lovable? Is it because our significant other takes us away for the weekend and showers us with lots of attention and money spent? Is it the flowers and candy delivered to the office? Perhaps, it is just a simple card that says, " I love you ".
I suppose love can be any of these designs i described above. An interesting quote i heard over the weekend is that for some people "love doesn't exist unless one acknowledges it in front of others". So for some people it has to be these things such as the flowers, the candy, the trips, the jewelery etc... It makes sense, we want others to know we are loved, that we are special to someone else, and that we are worthy of love and material things. It is a wonderful thing to be able to show those we love how we love them to be able to express that in a materialistic fashion. On the contrary, some people do not need to loved in front of others or shown that love in front of others via materialistic tokens. Love can just be a gaze, a quiet time spent together, a phone call, a touch, and many other combinations thereof.
I guess the point i am trying to get to in a round about way is that "romantic" love is not necessarily any of these things and yet can be all of these things. I don't know what "romantic" love is, yes i have been married for almost 13 years and while i think i know, i continue to question the "romantic" love versus the day to day commitment i share with my husband. I don't think "romantic" love is something that we can readily define. Yes, we all know we love our partners, and we love our friends and we love our children and our families, there is no question about those types of love. Those are undeniably intrinsic loves that are easily defined. However, when it comes to the "romantic" love it gets sketchy. Have we made it more complicated as a society because we have commercialized it so much? Or have we created all of these unrealistic expectations based on a historical point of view of what Valentines Day should be?
I am just one person and this is just my reflection or opinion but i think it is something to think about and i know as i get older i tend to think more and reflect more about life and things such as this. In conclusion, i believe love comes in many different forms, shapes, sizes, designs, configurations and patterns. The most common universal sign is a heart. At least with all of the different forms and types of love that exist in the world it is nice to know we still have the common symbol of a heart and we all know and understand that meaning. There is comfort in that universal symbol of love.
With it being February 14th yesterday, the mass produced and commercialized Valentines Day, i have contemplated what that day means to people. For some it is a forced gift giving holiday trying to find that perfect gift to make our significant other "happy" and or pleased with us. Others view it as a day of canoodling, romantic dinners, spending time with our loved ones etc...
I went to see Valentines Day, the movie, over the weekend, and was pleasantly surprised with it. Great all star cast and interesting concoctions of relationships in the movie as experienced by the characters in the day of the life of Valentines Day in Los Angeles. Some of the different relationships included, an older married couple, a single woman with a divorced man or so she thinks until she discovers he is still married, a same sex couple, a mother trying to make it home to her young son, and of course the undying passionate teenage love. I liked the movie as it got me thinking about how many different types of love relationships there are out there in the world. All of them very important to each person experiencing them. I thought a lot about love over the weekend and what makes love real for people or more precisely what makes people feel loved and or lovable? Is it because our significant other takes us away for the weekend and showers us with lots of attention and money spent? Is it the flowers and candy delivered to the office? Perhaps, it is just a simple card that says, " I love you ".
I suppose love can be any of these designs i described above. An interesting quote i heard over the weekend is that for some people "love doesn't exist unless one acknowledges it in front of others". So for some people it has to be these things such as the flowers, the candy, the trips, the jewelery etc... It makes sense, we want others to know we are loved, that we are special to someone else, and that we are worthy of love and material things. It is a wonderful thing to be able to show those we love how we love them to be able to express that in a materialistic fashion. On the contrary, some people do not need to loved in front of others or shown that love in front of others via materialistic tokens. Love can just be a gaze, a quiet time spent together, a phone call, a touch, and many other combinations thereof.
I guess the point i am trying to get to in a round about way is that "romantic" love is not necessarily any of these things and yet can be all of these things. I don't know what "romantic" love is, yes i have been married for almost 13 years and while i think i know, i continue to question the "romantic" love versus the day to day commitment i share with my husband. I don't think "romantic" love is something that we can readily define. Yes, we all know we love our partners, and we love our friends and we love our children and our families, there is no question about those types of love. Those are undeniably intrinsic loves that are easily defined. However, when it comes to the "romantic" love it gets sketchy. Have we made it more complicated as a society because we have commercialized it so much? Or have we created all of these unrealistic expectations based on a historical point of view of what Valentines Day should be?
I am just one person and this is just my reflection or opinion but i think it is something to think about and i know as i get older i tend to think more and reflect more about life and things such as this. In conclusion, i believe love comes in many different forms, shapes, sizes, designs, configurations and patterns. The most common universal sign is a heart. At least with all of the different forms and types of love that exist in the world it is nice to know we still have the common symbol of a heart and we all know and understand that meaning. There is comfort in that universal symbol of love.
