What does romance mean to you?
Through the course of several decades in this world, I’ve learned one thing about that question — romance has different meaning for everyone. Simply reflecting on quotes by some famous people will prove that.
To author Nicholas Sparks, “Romance is thinking about your significant other, when you are supposed to be thinking about something else.” Actor Elizabeth Ashley has a little more of a cynical viewpoint on the topic saying, “In a great romance, each person basically plays a part that the other really likes.”
One sure to appeal to the dewy-eyed from the academic, Carolyn Gold Helbrun: “Romance is the glamour which turns the dust of everyday life into a golden haze.” And finally, one for the truly sentimental, romance, according to novelist and poet Gertrude Stein, is “everything.”
For me, romance is about the little things. It’s the offer of a back massage (no strings attached) at the end of a long day. It’s eyes seeking you out, and the smile when you return the look from across a crowded room. It’s the gentle caress of his hand on your back as you walk into a building.
Romance for me is his home-cooked spaghetti dinner, served up each year since we met, on my birthday. It’s coming home to clean kitchen cupboards and washed dishes.
It’s a random note about my value to him. It’s a card that I know he actually read and purchased for the message inside.
Which given all of this, has me thinking that maybe the meaning isn’t so random. I can easily see the truth in all of the above quotes. Romance is that gesture that proves I am not just in my guy’s thoughts, but that he is thinking about me. For a macho man from a family of rowdy realists, being romantic requires a bit of role playing; for me to accept the gesture with aplomb definitely requires the same.
Ultimately, the act of romance does improve a day, even perhaps turning life at least for that moment, into a golden haze. Anything that can achieve that really is everything.
Lacking the eloquence of the aforementioned writers, when I reference romance I often speak of hearts and flowers to define it. The former is a metaphor of love or love yet to be, the latter represents the gifts or gestures we can give to express it.
Today, then, with the most romantic of holidays just four days away, here are some lovely hearts and flowers illustrations for your Valentine project:
iCLIPART.com Hearts and Flowers Valentine Clipart
