Heartwings says, “Love has many forms and faces, all of them true.”
Have you noticed the avian activity? The birds know that winter is on the way out and spring is on the way in. It will take its time getting here, yet its eventual arrival is assured. The birds’ songs are an indication that soon, or perhaps sooner still, mating will begin to take place.
Mating is preceded by courting, of course. This is the males’ opportunity to strut their stuff, show off their finery and often to compete with other males for the attention of their chosen lady love. Much of the birds’ design is intended to facilitate this process.
Other species, too, begin to shake off winter and think about the oncoming season. This includes humans, of course. The stores have already set up their Valentine’s Day displays. That happens soon after Christmas. Hearts and flowers predominate. Don’t look now but is there a shamrock or two mixed in? That’s just a hint of how the seasons are advertised, commercially at least, to remind us to celebrate.
However, love is the January/February feature—romantic love, that is.
While it’s too early by far for spring fever, the fever of love is clearly an aspect of February. Books, as well as the Internet tell us its name is derived from that of a goddess whose Latin or Roman name translates to fever: Februata. I enjoy reading up on the myths and tales surrounding the times for celebration. The ancient peoples used stories to convey information, the symbols that are part of the facts illustrate it as much as or even more than the words.
Love is expressed in many ways, some of them obvious, some not. There is a saying, “Handsome is as handsome does.” Good looks may attract the eye, but it takes more than that to go past attraction to the full bloom of romantic love. It can begin that way, for sure.
Most of us can probably remember our first real love as teenagers. I know I do. I had a felt hat that was given as a favor at parties that my first real boyfriend gave me. As I recall, it had several pins on it. My poor mother disliked it intensely. He and I wrote each other every day while he was away–I’m not exactly sure where, and spoke on the phone a lot when he returned. This annoyed my father, who did a lot of his business over the telephone, and did not want me tying it up.
The Greeks as well as other peoples of other nationalities have words for all the kinds of love, as well as symbols. However it is expressed, the call to embrace and then perhaps to reproduce is definitely in the air in February. Valentine’s day is the center around which the celebration is built, but which came first, I wonder? Nature’s influence, or the push to celebrate the beginning of spring? My money’s on Mother Nature.
May you find love where you seek it, and cherish it when you do.
Blessings and Best Regards, Tasha Halpert
PS How do you think love is given best? Please share your ideas. Do you have some thoughts for me? I love hearing from you, and hope you do. Please write to me at Tashahal@gmail.com, and you can sign up to receive my blog weekly at http://tashasperspective.com, click on Pujakins/ from the poet’s heart.
One of the more famous of the poems Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote to her Robert as they fell in love begins, “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.” It has always been a favorite of mine. I even set it to music and played it on my guitar in the days I sang in coffee houses and for parties. Love can be given in many ways, and all of them are valid and special because each person has his or her own way of giving love. When I pay attention and see how love is given, it is a wonderful lesson to be cherished. Watch very small children; toddlers give us wonderful examples of the giving of unconditional love.
Saint Valentine may or may not have actually existed. In fact, research reveals that there were not one but three Saint Valentines in all, with various details to their lives and deaths though all were martyred. The general information on the Internet indicates they were killed for performing marriages that had been forbidden by the Emperor Claudius the Cruel. It is also said that the Christian church took advantage of a popular pagan festival of that month, substituting the celebration of St. Valentine’s beheading.
When I was growing up we usually said grace only at Thanksgiving, Christmas or on other very special occasions. I don’t remember any special discussion of gratitude in my family. God was often presented as a punitive figure, rather like my dad—as in or God will punish you for that, see if He doesn’t, and “Just wait until I tell your father what you did…” The church I grew up with emphasized being sorry for one’s sins and saying prayers for the protection and preservation of my family and myself. All that changed when I was in my mid thirties and I learned about the virtue of gratitude and its importance for a happy life.
When I was in grade school I fell in love, or more accurately had a gigantic crush on a boy with blond hair named Teddy. I don’t think he even knew I existed, and I certainly made no advances toward him, being far too shy to do so. I simply gazed at him from afar and thought he was wonderful. In my seventh grade year another fair-haired boy I yearned over named Dana replaced Teddy in my heart. Some years later I discovered that before she met my father, many of my mother’s boyfriends had been blond, and I wondered if her predilections could have subconsciously influenced me in my choices.
Pujakins 