To Be Romantic

To be romantic isn't just about making googly eyes (technical term) at someone over some candles, or buying flowers. Actually, it's far more than that. That notion of romantic love is just an artifact of people's attempts to sell chocolates, flowers and candles. No, to be romantic is a far different thing. The classical novelists knew it, this blog knows it in theory, and so does anyone who gets carried away on a flight of fancy instead of being bogged down in unending pragmatism. Romance is being caught up in a beautiful moment, wondering 'what if' on a lazy morning stroll, or wandering whether you will on a gentle stroll. It's a beautiful thing. It's an imaginative experience.

If we look for a clinical definition of being romantic, then we end up in a wormhole orbiting the romance languages derived from latin, stories that are remote from the everyday realities of life, and love affairs. Maybe we could come up with a different definition, though. Isn't one unifying characteristic of the greater romance an ability to indulge in believing the unbelievable in some positive way? Couldn't that work?

The reason why this springs to mind is that romance seems to be in awfully short supply right now. One of the reasons why 'The Mentalist' worked so well for me was that it did indulge in romance of the fanciful sort, especially in the behaviour of Jane, while remaining modern. It was a bit of a freak. Most of the television shows and movies close to my heart are very romantic, as are the notable works of Rachmaninov. That classical music really can lift you off into a more romantic world, filled with imagination and a harmony with the universe. Ah, Rachmaninov...

Being romantic isn't an inherent ability, but something we should nurture. Even now, as a teacher, I see children being trained out of being romantic, and it's painful. It's probably scorned because it's not corporate and encapsulates everything non-businesslike about human nature. Pongy pineapples to 'businesslike', we need to live! Yes, that's hard to believe and positive. It must be romantic!

And now we return you to the regularly scheduled nonsense. Writer's block continues. Ugh. Curse you, googly eyes of sainted memory!

O.