It's that time of year again where you see hearts in all forms everywhere you look: retail stores, doctor's offices, business offices, grocery stores, spiritual shops where gorgeous crystals are carved into hearts... you get the picture. Valentine's Day means different things to different people. There are happy couples, long marriages, new love, those who desire to be single, and those of us who are single and would like a good love match. There is also Galentine's Day and it is coined for a reason: Women friends have a tight and loving bond with gal-friends that inspires us and keeps us strong. I am fortunate to have friends for nearly a lifetime. My friends are my family. We have seen one another through all of life's ups and downs.
I do think of all those I've loved and lost beginning as a toddler: Parents, friends, lovers, and pets. I carry them in my heart, which reminds me of a favored poem:
[i carry your heart with me(i carry it in]
i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
i fear
no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you
here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)
***
We are living in very distressing, dangerous, and disturbing times. I LOVE and cherish
Democracy, which is now threatened daily by a corrupt autocracy and oligarchy takeover. It is not in me to say, "oh, well." I do what I can, stay informed, and then step away for the sake of my mental and physical health. I dearly hope that people wake up and become highly informed on facts so this country can prepare for a big turnaround. It makes me think of beloved (scholar of the constitution), President Obama's one of many brilliant statements, "If we want democracy to flourish, we will have to fight for it. We’ll have to nurture it. And we will have to demonstrate its value, again and again, in improving the lives of ordinary people."
***
Everyday things that I love:
Sunrise tea on the patio
Meaningful conversations with friends
My therapy kitty, Lucia
My ocean-island view
Hummingbirds visiting my feeders
Nature
Fresh air after a rain
Moving clouds
Strong espresso
Ballet
Music
My writing time
Reading time
My living space
Romantic classic movies
A warm bed
Possibility
What are your everyday loves? I wish you all a Happy Valentine's and Galentine's Day! I also wish
all of us miracles to ensure Democracy.
Keep on swimming through life,
Valerie Anne
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