Valentine's Day has come and gone again, and one of my students wondered if we have one day of love, do we have 364 days of hate. It should be the other way around, right? We should love people every day, give them flowers, eat lots of chocolate, feel loved and treasured... every day. Having the one day just seems to highlight the worst perceptions of love; that those who don't have this certain kind are left out, and heart-broken.
I love that Pete Townsend song, "Let My Love Open the Door". I love the idea of love having healing powers, especially when the heart has been broken by love. I don't know that my heart has been irreparably broken by love. Maybe that is a bad thing, like if my emotional heart were competing in a marathon of love, I'd be stumbling along with a side-cramp. But I am in the game again, I started online dating (oxymorons, anyone?) and this last weekend I had a flurry of responses to my online profile. My online profile says as much about me as my 401k. Vague, ambivalent answers to prescribed questions that will magically help me land a man. I wouldn't say that I am cynical, just multi-faceted. I like meeting people face to face. But in our culture, even that has become a Fear Factor event. But as my friend Eric reminded me the other day, if you wanna catch a fish, you have to put your bait in the water. So now here I am, fishing (for lack of a better analogy) for love. And I suppose that the hope (hopenness) that I have this year will allow me to answer love's knock at the door, and let him in.
When people keep repeating
That you'll never fall in love
When everybody keeps retreating
But you can't seem to get enough
Let my love open the door
Let my love open the door
Let my love open the door
To your heart
Happy Valentine's Day <3
