Happy Valentine’s Day to you and yours!
I’ve got a lot of goodies packed into this one and I’d like to start out with some of my favorite Valentines-related Substack posts I’ve seen this week:
Paris Starn shares a beautiful process on making an ephemeral valentine’s card (meringue). I love how artful the process of baking + cooking can be. 💝
Julia Pott shares vintage Valentine’s Cards 💝
Jilian Hess shares an amazing collection of love notes 💝
Love Poetry
Secondly, love poems that I have read this month that I adore:
A sweet one - She Walks in Beauty By Lord Byron (George Gordon) 💌
A funny one - Love Song by Dorothy Parker 💌
Love this Day and this Life
This is a nice place to celebrate the things that I LOVE ❤️ I encourage you to make a list of things that you love as well and share you list here with me if you like! Please share other favorite love poems or writing on Valentine’s Day in the comments as well. ❤️ What do you love about your life?
💗 I love pink and brown, I love synthetic rubies, I love rose quartz, I love cashmere sweaters and scarves, I love my silk pants, I love bows, I love my wedding aesthetic which is black and white formal, I love Lana Del Rey’s music, I love singing with girlish intensity, I love piano music, I love guitar music, I love Adrianne Lenker’s music, I love hot water, hot tea, hot showers, I love feeling clean. I love herbs and cute plants. I love sleeping in braids, I love my long, healthy and shiny hair, I love gold jewelry, I love listening to inspiring podcasts, I love walks in nature, I love the ocean, I love the forest, I love the trees, I love oak trees, I love the little fat brown birds here where I am. I love my kittens and my family. I love my friends. I love my creative community. I love feeling tall, I love feeling graceful, I love reading that inspires me and writing that feels inspired. I love beauty, I love historic places and museums, I love nice traditions, and respect, such as saluting for colors, I love people who are responsible and caring for themselves and others, I love being in a state of bliss, I love feeling divinely guided and supported. 💗
My sister took this photo of us in the backyard in December. I’d had a rough start to my morning and I went outside to meditate and re-center myself. You also came outside to comfort me. I am so grateful to have people in my life who care for me and comfort me. I am so grateful that our relationship is centered on mutual care, respect, affection, and love. 💗💗
A letter to my love
Where I am squeamish, you are strong. Where I am dreamy, you are practical. Where I am uncertain, you are supportive. Where I worry, you reassure me. We balance each other beautifully and I am so very grateful for you, H. I thank god every day for bringing us together. ❤️❤️
I am no longer a perfectionist.
The perfectionist within me has passed along.
“Have no fear of perfection - you'll never reach it.”
- Salvador Dali.
I love that quote. It is light and funny and accurate. In my mind, I believe that god is perfection. Nature has perfection. We can dream of perfection, and I like to dream of that eternal, heavenly perfection, which is not worldly. I used to think that perfection can be achieved on earth and within the self - now I think it is a matter of definition. It depends on how you define perfection and the meaning that you place behind it. Another quote is fitting here:
Perfection is not just about control. It's also about letting go. Surprise yourself so you can surprise the audience. Transcendence!
- Darren Aronofsky, The Black Swan (Film)
In one interpretation, this quote demonstrates the fact that the creative act - even expression, in dance - is one of control and then release as that creative output presents into the world. This parallels with the creation narrative - god created for six days and on the seventh day, rest.
I did watch the Black Swan for the first time this winter with H, so this line rings in my mind. I have been creating a lot recently, though I have not shared as much. I think that artists can go through phases of input and output, so I look forward to the shift that I know is coming.
In the meantime, I embrace no fear of perfection. I desire and dream of heavenly perfection. I hope for perfection, but I do not fear for not having it.
Here’s My Proof
I made Valentine’s cards this year, but I didn’t get around to posting them until look - today! You know how working, living, and wedding planning can be!
So, they are too late for you to order by Valentine’s Day. In the past, this fact might have stopped me from posting them, but now it won’t. I can still share them here and you may still want them, even if you receive them late or order them next year :)
I find that it could be funny if you get a pack of 10 of the same poem and perhaps give them to multiple people, or give the same postcard for 10 days in a row, or for Valentine’s Day and 9 months following and see at what point they stop laughing at having received the same card with the same poem on it (of course, your writing on it can change with each note, and that makes it all very sweet). It can be ironic and sweet and those are some of the most surprisingly memorable things in life. However you choose to give your Valentine’s Day cards, give them with love and warmth 💗
Miscellaneous Sophia Etsy - Valentine's Poetry Postcards (Landscape 8.5x5.5 in)
Miscellaneous Sophia Etsy - Valentine's Plain Postcards (Landscape 8.5x5.5 in)
H wrote me this one - months ago. Long distance could be hard sometimes, but thankfully we are together now.
Sending Love
I wish you a happy Valentine’s Day, blessings for Ash Wednesday, and a lovely rest of February! 💗💗
sincerely,
I enjoyed reading and thinking about your offerings. The variety is what makes it so enjoyable. Thank you, honey. 🥰