You’ve come looking for romantic ideas, and you’ve found a romantic life! A romantic way. A romantic road to wander.
For at least twenty years I’ve been looking for romance in my life. I knew I was a hopeless romantic when as a young guy I drove day and night from the Rockies to the California coast just so that I could run barefoot in the sand at dawn on the beach of Carmel only because I thought the name was cool–a romantic idea to be sure.
I wasn’t disappointed.
Where Is The Romantic Life?
Romance is in the moment–pause to notice a fresh scent after a rain. See the warm sparkle of a friend’s eyes by candlelight. Listen to the rhythm of your lover’s heartbeat as you rest your head on his chest.
If romance is in the moment, then live in the moment. Live intentionally. Holly and I have made a lot of choices in our lives looking for romance in our life together. Some were good choices and some well…. Yet, this we know: you’ve got to keep reaching in life to feed your soul. You’ve got to dip in the well to fill the moment.
We’ve learned that you find the romantic life inside yourself long before romance is shared within a relationship with another. It’s way before love poems, romantic letters, a passionate kiss or even paper hearts. These are all a creative expression of the romance that already thrives in us.
The Beginning of A Romantic Life
You uncover it first inside your soul where romantic ideas are found. Your senses first become enlivened. It’s noisy. Too much. Only then you notice the interesting reflection that the rain makes on the pavement. You notice the sad expression in a stray dog’s eyes. You notice your child’s endearing crooked smile.
Perhaps that’s why when people fall in love, they describe such a rush of the senses. It’s because the senses are awake, alive and they pause to really look and see what they never saw before. Others don’t fall in love. They just are. That’s the beauty of romance. There’s no one size for all.
My most romantic place is Alexander’s Garden next to the Kremlin in Moscow. I can still hear history happening. Tragedy shrieks. Pride shouts. Deception prevails. Victory sings. Disappointment wails. It’s all romance. I love to gaze at the warm colors of the autumn light painted on the bricks and stones of the Kremlin wall. I wonder how many others have gazed and felt the same stirring of the soul as I. Doubtless millions.
You pause to notice. You see.
Alexander’s Garden is full of romantics. Wedding parties come to make their photographic memories. Lovers relax under the trees, kiss and gaze upon one another. A rush of romantic moments sweep the garden.
More moments come. Each moment is yours if you take it–or make it.
Yours along TheRomanticWay!
Rod
