Of Love Songs...

"Strengthen me with raisins, refresh me with apples; for I am faint with love"

- The Bible, Songs of Solomon Chapter 2 Verse 5

I love the Songs of Solomon. It is one place that you find romance and flirtation and sensuality all together in the bible - and it is the perfect combination for me; after all, it IS the bible. The songs of Solomon tell the story of two lovers who share the depth of their love for one another with each other and with their friends and anyone else who is around to listen. They are excited, passionate, deeply slain with love, and completely devoted to one another. Their love is the talk of the town. Solomon's Songs are bursting with so much passion and romance that you almost forget that they were written by the king himself. Not surprising that he had a thousand women, on record anyway. The feeling that he pours into the tale draws you in and brings the lovers to life. For me, their enthusiasm is a welcome break from the reality of today - the secrecy, cynicism, distrust, and fear that better describe our love lives nowadays. For Solomon's lovers, there are no rules, no walls, just love.

With Valentine's Day approaching this month, what better time to indulge in my season of Solomon's Songs? While I have always believed myself to be a romantic, life has sternly taught me to live and love by 'the rules'. I have learned to be practical, invulnerable and in control of all my emotions all the time, and it has become a little stifling. Like Solomon's lovers, I want to feel love with every fiber of my being and not need to hide it out of fear. I want to believe in pure love again and give myself, my trust and my passion to the one(s) I claim to love. So, instead of waiting in vain for a day when love will be like Solomon describes it again, I am giving myself up to Love. Until the 1st day of March when I will allow reality to set in, I have decided to live in an unwavering haze of love and romance. It is time to shout about love from the rooftops, to inhale and exhale and let go off every defense and truly feel, truly live again. I have been drinking from the fountain of love and it is time to infect as many people as I can with my love bug. So please do not be surprised if you catch me with a dreamy smile plastered on my face, or if I cannot seem to stop singing my love songs. I am simply 'faint with love'. And if I surprise you with a poem or steal a kiss, it is my invitation to you to step out from behind your walls and let your heart beat with passion again.

Happy Love Month!!!

I am, therefore I write

Is it too late to say a Happy New Year to you? I have been away for so long that I feel a little like a dry quill that has been starved of ink in a forgotten hut for many moons.....so here goes...

I had a conversation last night with the most stubborn man I know, and on the subject of writing his exact sentiments are

"Real men don't write"

My heart skipped a beat at his words, the same way it does when I hear someone say "God does not exist" (Dramatic? I know. But that's why you love me)

Because you see, real men do write. REAL PEOPLE WRITE. For people who write, especially those of us who sometimes embrace the art of putting the quill to parchment (or pen to paper, if we must) it can sometimes be described as the highest form of self-expression, right up there with great musical talent and amazing artwork. The possibilities are endless when you  face a blank page: the freedom to create a new experience or to express the depths of your soul to people in a vacuum of aloneness are the precious gifts that the writer has been given. But it definitely is not for all of us.

For me, writing started as a way to clear my head of the many many many wonderful thoughts I had floating around all day. I would write about my day and my life and other people's lives and the way I felt and my dreams and my fears and anything I thought about until writing became my weapon, a secret that has gotten me farther than any other skills I have. But more importantly, writing is for my pleasure...and I do hope it's yours too.

More importantly...

I'm BACK!!!