A Valentine's Moment

Beloved Lovers,

Considering the vastness of the commercial and historical forces moving you towards doing something to show someone your love, here are a few more honest, genuine, loving ideas and resources that you might find of special significance.

To start, here's a quote from an article by Fred Donaldson, called: "Peace is Child's Play."

"We have lived life as if it is easier and safer not to love. But it is our ability to love that...more than anything else heals our hurts and helps us find our way back to peace. J Glenn Gray (1970, p. 213) realized this at the end of his tour of duty in World War II when he wrote in his diary, 'And this morning when I rose, tired and distraught from bed, I knew that in order to survive this time I must love more. There is no other way . . ..' Chris Hedges (2002, p.184) finishes his examination of war with the same feelings. He writes that, 'To survive as a human being is possible only through love.'

"This love is an impulse to openness or intent to kindness and compassion. Contrary to what we might fear we are left not in an identity crisis, but in an identity expansion which makes us, not less human, but more humane. I spent an afternoon playing with fifteen street boys one afternoon in Cape Town, South Africa. We all left the park touching and hugging each other; one of the older boys asked me through an interpreter if he could learn to play like this with children. Play's love has everything to do with a willingness to be vulnerable in an unconditional and fierce commitment to another's thriving. In a very real and practical sense this means that as Urie Bronfenbrenner said, 'for a child to develop normally, somebody has to be irrationally crazy about that kid.'"

And here, again, are a few of my articles about loving fun for your Valentenian joy:

Intimate Fun
Silly, little loving games
Love and Play