Something That We Do

Sometimes I really wish I could write well. I wish I could write like great speech writers write. I wish I could write poetry that would move people. I wish I could make others laugh more easily than not and oddly enough, I also wish I could make people cry. Not in a bad way of course but in an ‘oh my God that so totally touched me I teared up’ kind of way. In fact, right now I wish I had something awesome to write as part of a wedding gift I want to give one of my best friends. I always run into this problem when its time to sign cards or write messages and it would be so much easier if the words would just come to me easily and I didn’t have to think about stealing somebody elses. Trouble is that some people say things so much better than I ever could.

I find myself at the moment trying to find songs where I think the sentiment actually represents a particular situation and quotes (or perhaps passages) that embody the kind of relationship a good marriage would be. I’m not getting as far as I’d like with it although some ideas are coming together. This was pretty much after I remembered the song ‘Something That We Do’ by Clint Black. I think this is one of the most beautiful songs and I have not yet tired of hearing it. It’s a slow ballad and the kind of song that I would love to have sung to me by a guy who can sing and play guitar. It talks about love and the things that it isn’t because, as the song goes, its something that we do. But then music can really do it for me. I went to see The Lion King on stage in Hamburg and I cried in some of the happy songs because I was overwhelmed.

Anyway, poetry and music don’t really appeal to some people so I have also been looking around the net at the way people refer to relationships and partners. Some things out there definitely give me hope for society. There are those who unabashedly proclaim their love for others or who can eloquently communicate the strength and depth of their relationship. Unfortunately though, there is a lot more whinging and complaining on the whole. I suppose that’s the nature of the beast though. Its possibly more entertaining to read and doubtless easier to criticise but I sometimes wonder whether it actually helps to cause some problems. Do people read about others’ discontent and start questioning their own relationships as a result? Do they ever think that if someone else feels that way, why shouldn’t I?

After reading a post on the starfish phenomenon and whether you can do anything about it, I came to a couple of comments that mentioned the ‘mates before dates’ philosophy. It was suggested that women especially worry about this and about becoming locker room conversation (which is not really without cause if you’ve read some of these forums). My point here is that it can be hard to make yourself vulnerable when there are so many negative examples out there of how things could end up. With all the criticisms, ideals and impossible standards being thrown out left, right and centre, I think anyone could be forgiven for feeling as though they’ll never measure up. So if love is something that you do but you don’t see that much of it, does it mean theres not as much out there?