Something on my Mind: Love is in the Air

Don't get your nose in a knot I do know how to spell "air." It's a play on words and it's a tech- nique used by a famous county-wide writer to get his readers' attention. (It got yours, I take it.)

So, welcome to the Valentine's Day edition of this column. If you have taken the time to look at the rest of the paper, you will likely see all sorts of hearts, bows and arrows, and other symbols of "love" scattered throughout its pages.

Valentine's Day is very much like, say, Mother's Day, in that it is one day of the year that is set aside to celebrate a theme or person. I picked Mother's day, but it could be Father's Day, Canada Day, or even Christmas.

In other words, setting a day aside for any of the above causes is great, but they should be acknowledged every day of the year. (Maurice: What I am trying to tell my newspaperland fans is that, for example, Mothers should be honoured every day of the year, the same for Fathers, we should be proud Canadians every day. And have that Christmas-spirit year-round.)

Valentine's Day, then, for those who express themselves in candies, Cupids, and cards, should be celebrated every day, all year long

Of course, that could become a tad expensive. Can you imagine a bouquet of flowers every week? Chocolates every Tuesday? Romantic meals on each and every weekend? (What's that, ka-ching shaped like a pink heart?)

Obviously, there would have to be a significant change in how one's love was expressed, cost being the biggest factor. Maybe a few affectionate words could be enough.

Let's get back to some wordplay. "Love is in the Air," of course, is a title of song. (For twenty dollars, I will show up at your place in my penguin suit and sing it to your beloved...just kidding.)

But, sorry to say, "air" may have a raft of other spellings and meanings Could love be in the "err," as in mistaken love? One might, for example, find that he/she has made a huge mistake in what they thought was love. Maybe it was passing fancy, strong like, or mindless desperation—but not love.

Maybe love is in the "error," in that there is a lot of confusion about what love really is. Too many take their cues about love from Hollywood models and movies, Harlequin romance books, peer pressure, and the Internet, and pay a bitter, bitter price for it for the rest of their lives.

On a positive note, love could be in the "heir," as in the happy outcome that results from true love, and that love is perpetuated into the next generation. Some families express affection in an open, touchy-feely, warm, and sensitive way—and there's not a drop of chocolate in sight. (They would be the type who "celebrate" Valentine's Day year-round.)

Love can also be confused with other types of love. I may love coffee, love sleeping in, love doughnuts, but the objects and expression of my love is not the same for each. And they don't involve a living human. We're wired to express love one way to people, another way to things. And we all need to know the difference.

Please, don't forget "lust." Somehow the sexual, intimate expression is seen as love. Can be, but not necessarily so. We even speak of "making love." Really? Lust and sex are not to be confused with love. How many Friday night objects have become Saturday morning rejects? How many crimes of passion have started out as drives of passion? (Obviously there's a wealth of column fodder here.)

Let me finish off with a quote or two; "Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil...bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

That's from the writings of Paul in the Bible, a good source of selfless, enduring love. What a difference it would make if we (and that includes me) would exhibit that sort of love!

Have a good Valentine's Day, however you choose to celebrate it.