Happy Valentine’s! I hope you woke up to fresh flowers and chocolates or whatever you prefer, if not then take a little trip to buy some. Today is about love of any kind, or at least that’s how I treat it. Tell your friends, family, and kind strangers that you love them. To take a piece from one of my favorite movies, Love, Actually, “If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around.” Unfortunately, I couldn’t have said it any better. As always, today I want to honor love, though not through my own words. I wanted to give a few different recommendations of my favorite Valentine’s songs and quotes that remind me how great love is. These are the things that keep me writing and believing. These are cliche and undeniably expected picks but I think that’s part of their charm.
Songs (pulled from various different playlists):
That Old Feeling - Chet Baker
Fool for Love - Lord Huron
First Day of My Life - Bright Eyes
She’s A Rainbow - Rolling Stones
Love at First Sight - The Brobecks
Lovesick - Alice Phoebe Lou
Films:
Notting Hill
Love, Rosie
Little Women (so many various forms of love!)
Juno
Valentine’s Day
Roman Holiday
Singin’ in the Rain
Poems & Books:
Pride & Prejudice - Jane Austen
Love and Other Words - Christina Lauren
Bomb Shelter - Mary Laura Philpott
The Map of Tiny Perfect Things - Lev Grossman
i carry your heart with me - e. e. Cummings
The Thing Is - Ellen Bass
Wild, Wild - Mary Oliver
I lied and here’s an excerpt from my work in progress at the moment:
“When a pair of hazel eyes catch mine, I can see our past and future down to the very second. The beginning and the end all started with a terrible American Literature class and horrible friends. I fell in love with him the way I fall asleep, a long refusal followed by a quick collapse. Now here we are, swaying together. These are the moments I dreamed of as a girl who thought that love didn't exist for her. The snugness of his breath melts my thoughts into a puddle of unfeasible nightmares.”
Maybe it’s not always perfect and a heart-shaped box of chocolates, but love is so much more. Despite what anyone says or calls me naive, I think love is quite powerful and wonderful. (This does include the awful things that come with it: grief, heartbreak, etc.) I say that’s not the point and maybe I don’t know what the point is. All I know, love is a lovely curse that is part of the human condition. I’m lucky to love so much and be loved so much. I hope you feel the same. Have a beautiful Valentine’s! Go forth and love!