Love Is TOO A Victory March

Firstly, if you want a balanced view I suppose you'd better go over and check out Kid's post here “...a cold and it's a broken hallelujah.”.

So, in my family we don't just make New Years' Resolutions, we make Holiday Resolutions. On every holiday, which, considering my mother's penchant for celebration, is quite a few.

It makes me a little sad to see how many of my friends dislike Valentines Day. I've been hearing so much on the blogs about how it's a bunch of commercial crap, and how we should be loving towards people every day, not just once a year.

I call bullshit on you guys (and I say that with a great deal of affection). I mean, yes, it's true that we should show appreciation to our loved ones often. But in what way is Valentines Day preventing us from doing that? Does celebrating Easter with chocolate eggs stop you from eating chocolate throughout the rest of the year? Does celebrating Christmas with presents and church ceremonies stop you from loving God or giving gifts to your family on the other 364 days? Does the fact that birthday cake is meant for birthdays stop you from eating it at other times?

Okay, scratch that last one. I don't expect many of you have a fixation with birthday cake the way my mother does (and I do, to a lesser extent).

I've never subscribed to the idea of "live every day like it's your last". I don't think it's practical. Humans are not built to deal with that kind of outpouring of emotion every day. Likewise, I don't think a person can make declarations of love every single day without it getting a bit stale. Little expressions, yes. I like little. I like it when my boyfriend (I don't currently have one) shows he loves me by bringing home a food I really like, or running me a bath, or massaging my shoulders, or taking out the trash without me having to ask him. But you know what? Not a single person I've dated thinks that making Valentines Day special prevents them from being thoughful during the rest of the year.

So my first resolution, which won't really be a hardship for me, is to treasure the peace of the mundane days - and ALSO celebrate the special ones. The balance between beautiful normality and exciting special days is a wonderful one, IMO.

As for my second resolution? I shall leave you with a favorite poem of mine:

love is a place
& through this place of
love move
(with brightness of peace)
all places

yes is a world
& in this world of
yes live
(skilfully curled)
all worlds

- e e cummings -

This year, I am going to say YES.