“Then, hold your lips in readiness but do not kiss. Hold this position for as long as possible, the while you smile tantalizingly into the eyes…”
So everyone knows that I’m not the biggest fan of Valentine’s Day, or, as we call it in my neck of the woods, “You’re Gonna Die Alone Day.” Now, I’m not one of those people who hate the commercialization of love and are morally opposed to cupid teddy bears and cards with terrible phrases like, “I ruff you” and “B Mine 4 Eva.” I don’t like that V Day is used by so many people as an anomalous time of year to tell someone they care, love, enjoy, desire, etc. Isn’t that something that should promoted all the time? Do we really need a day that demands chocolates and gifts and flowers and sex? I mean: all of those things are enjoyable and should be experienced frequently!
“Because kisses cost nothing. So kiss on. Keep on kissing.”
Pietro Ramirez Sr. wrote this amazing text in the 1930s and it was re-released in 2006. It’s a precious little gem called The Art of Kissing. It was given to me by a past coworker who thought I would really appreciate the humor and tenderness of some of the points. The language is pretty dated, and there’s a shit-ton of misogynist thought/theory (might be intentionally ironic), but the important, quotable moments are pretty fantastic.
The cynic inside of me, the sarcastic, fuck-you-asshole, you-led-me-on, go-to-hell parts that sometimes creep about this time of year don’t even like to read such quotes. Those parts of me like to say: screw that, you’ll never be happy, nothing is ever going to lead you to love, and love will never find you. And though mean, gay, old, bitter, Uncle Josh sometimes rears his head, most of my being likes to cling to the magic notion of love. I just don’t like to admit it: I feel like I’m conceding. Strange, no? That by believing in something, that embracing some perfect notion, that having faith in some crazy feeling makes me feel like a quitter? I can’t be angry or spiteful enough to want to toss the whole thing aside, so I must be giving up somehow; perhaps I am just more optimistic than I want to admit…haha, that’s a strange one too.
“I’m much more positive than I want to admit to because it’s embarrassing to think things will work out for the best.” What is the thought process there?! On paper, it looks like I might be a tad wacky.
“Breathe? Who wants to breathe, who even wants to think of breathing in the middle of an impassioned kiss? Breathe through your nose, if you have to breathe. But kiss, keep on kissing as long as there is one minim of breath in you!”
I guess that I don’t have as much against V-Day as I thought I did…But I want to! Haha, funny how a little reflection makes you feel differently about something you’re usually so opposed to. Don’t get me wrong, still not the day’s biggest fan, but I think it’s a little less offensive than I’ve thought for the last few years of my life. Maybe, and that is a big ol' 'maybe,' it’s not all that bad.
For now, some advice:
“A kiss is too rapturous a thing to be enjoyed for the moment and the moment only. Forget time. Forget everything but the kiss in which you are
in the midst of.”
Happy Valentine’s Day, peeps.
Here’s a to another 365 days of treating your special someone(s) with as much love as you do on February 14th
PS. Giving out this little ditty on my dinner date. Don't you totally wish you were getting it?
PS. Giving out this little ditty on my dinner date. Don't you totally wish you were getting it?
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| Handmade valentine realness |
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