Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Tiptoe Through the Tulips


It's THAT day, and the lines seem to be firmly drawn. Either you love, love, love-de-dove it, or you hate it with amazingly hateful hate. There's no middle ground, no no-man's land, and no room in the inn for waffles or compromises.

And really, that's too bad.

Let's get the cynicism and check-minuses out of the way: It's a holiday whose real winners are card shops, jewelry stores and florists. It's a holiday where if you don't have a Valentine, it's hard not to feel like a failure. Or a bitter has-been, never-will-be type loser. It's a holiday where the haves seem to have so much, and the have-nots want to slash both tires and wrists -- not necessarily in that order.

But Valentine's Day doesn't have to have anything to do with greeting cards or jewelry in fancy boxes or bouquets of beautifully overpriced flowers. It doesn't have to be about having a spouse, a lover, a significant other, or even a fantasy-worthy milkman. It doesn't have to be about any of those things -- if you choose to NOT let it be.

There is a world of things to love out there, be it animal, vegetable or mineral and there is an infinite number of ways to show that love. Hug a dog, listen to your kids, send someone a funny joke, read a book, listen to music or embrace silence, blow bubbles inside the house, eat something healthfully decadent like chocolate covered tofu (I just made that up), do something for yourself, do something for others or sit back, relax and do absolutely nothing for no other reason than just because.

If there is one thing I think we can agree on, it's that more and more this world is hurting. Cynically speaking, 24-hours of roses are red, violets are blue isn't going to cure anything. But life is overflowing with opportunities to love, and that is not only a powerful salve for today, it's a damn good start on tomorrow.

No purchase necessary.

3 comments:

Travestine said...

Lovely! And at first I read this phrase as "waffles OF compromise" and thought that it must be some TunaFamily ritual for sorting out disagreements - you all troop down to IHOP and straighten out your differences over waffles!

GreenTuna said...

Well, THAT was too good of an idea to pass up.

http://wafflesofcompromise.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

Thank you for that, Ms. Green Tuna. Couldn't agree more and I've had a fine day without anyone putting me at the center of the universe. It's just not about ME!

Hope you've had a nice few days.

PeaceTuna