On Being a Hopeless Romantic

I went to the Urban Dictionary to make sure that I was using the term "hopeless romantic" appropriately. I was surprised to find 12 different definitions ranging from the most popular being "A person who daydreams about romantic occasions and dreams of chances where he/she will be able to perform a romantic act to their love, yet never gets the chance to" and the least popular, "A sad creature. It spends its life in search of a mate, yet doesn't. Dies miserable and alone", followed closely by "hopeless romantics AKA guys who have no chance with girls so they watch anime". (that must have been written by a teen).

I dug further on the net. I found a site that asked "are you a hopeless romantic? Take this Quiz". So, I went there. (I provided you all with the link too..just in case you are dying to find out your results--I bombed) I took the survey, was as honest as possible, and this is what I got: "You're not only romantically challenged, you're a bona fide serial dater. But don't despair. Serial dating can be fun. You're wined, dined and complimented on a regular basis. Hopefully the rest of your life will be that good too!"

But I am NOT a serial dater-that went out the door a long time ago! I just wanted to know where I rated on the romantic scale! Romantically challenged? Sounds like a disease! Is that what is wrong with me??? You mean all those years of therapy and at the bottom of it all is that I am romantically challenged??? (ok Larry, get that smirk off your face!!)

Well, I have my own version, partially supported by some of the definitions I found, but my definition of "love" applies to more than just "one ideal person" it is a much broader feeling - love of the world as an entity and of all the little things that it is comprised of. This hopeless romantic has a great deep love for people, places, and things, from the beauty of a flower, the colors of the sunrise and sunset each day, the smell of a newly mowed lawn, the laughter of a child, a kiss. Time with wonderful friends. Kindness and compassion. The feel of the paint on the canvas. I approach these things with a great love and energy and rejoice in the beauty of it all, and embrace the pain that sometimes comes hand in hand with it. I get up each morning and look forward to doing it again and again and again. I dream and create and I simply love. Call it rose colored glasses, call it idealism, call it hopeless romanticism. It is simply love.

Perhaps one of my favorite comments about hopeless romantics was "they may have their feet on the ground, but their souls fly somewhere over the rainbow."

I am not finished with this theme...look for future posts on great romantic films, books, artwork, artists, musicians, et. al. who also fly on wings of love.

xxxpatti (and the three xxxs are not a triple x rating, as some have suggested. It is love and/or kisses x 3--3 being a lucky number and magical number in many cultures. In the Chinese language it is considered a good number because sounds like the word ALIVE!)

PS a sunset from my back yard that I photographed and played around with in Photoshop. I love the colors of the sky and am working on a landscape series which reflect this great ever changing and nebulous beauty.....