Love and Romance

Women often confuse love and romance. It seems to take years to understand the difference. At least, it did for me. While the two of them often go hand in hand, they're not the same. Love is the emotion; Romance is the expression of love. Romance reveals depths of those feelings. You may feel the love in an e-mail, but when a woman receives a handwritten letter, she's being romanced. One of my favorite authors put it this way:

If love is dessert,
romance is a pear tart with apricot sauce.
If love is a dance,
romance is a tango.
If love is a trip,
romance is a ride through the park
on a bicycle built for two!

Woman may want and need love, but they crave romance. So what do we women do? Sit around waiting for our man to "get it"? Or wait for "Mr Right" to come along? He might, but then again, he might not.

This doesn't have to stop you. Married or single, for the rest of this glorious year, I say let's woo ourselves! Let's come to our senses and let Life sweet us off our feet. Find an earthly pleasure and indulge ourselves! What inspires you? the fragrant breeze wafting out of a chocolatier? Watching a musician play a passage? Riding in a fast car on a sunny day with the top down? the buttery softness of a new pair of leather gloves? Biting into a liquer-filled chocolate? Discovering another book by your favorite author?

You're probably thinking this is nuts; that your daily bump n grind ain't no Paradise. But... what if it is? what if you helped it along, to do those things that bring little pleasures into the small corners of our lives? Think of something that gives you a great deal of pleasure. And when it comes time to do that thing, think bigger than life, think Hollywood! and how they would pull it off with some of the great stars. If you're having a glass of wine, have it in a fancy glass! Put your chocolates on a fancy plate. Or take a bubble bath, but add the candles, the glass of wine, or even the plate of chocolates! It's OK to indulge your senses... just think of it as romancing yourself. Your outlook may never be the same :)

HUGS full of romance to everyone!