#857 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Wednesday February 14)

“To the world you may be only one person; but to one person, you may be the world.” –Dr. Seuss

“This is how we are: we fall in love with each other’s strengths, but love deepens towards permanence when we fall in love with each other’s weaknesses.” –Salman Rushdie, The Golden House (2017)

Good morning,

VALENTINES

Today is Valentine’s Day, two days after Lincoln’s birthday and a week ahead of Washington’s birthday. I always thought of these three days as somehow interrelated “minor” holidays, a sort of respite during the dark days between Winter break and Spring break. Together they represent a respite of contemplation, celebration, and days off!

Do you remember the little Valentines exchanged at school, or the little candy hearts with silly two-word sayings? We knew we were sending valentines out of friendship, while the adults were sending flowers out of romantic love. As I grew older, I came to learn that friendship is its own sort of love. We go through life and acquire friends, who become companions in our journey.

There is a shortage of love and respect in this world, including love of adversaries and love of those with different views. Our political movements these days are the encapsulation not of love, but of grievance, of disappointment, of anger, and even of hate. Hopefully, we can get past the rhetoric of retribution and toward the language of kindness, communication, and rehabilitation. Hopefully, we can move past this era of hate toward an era of forces combined to tackle the challenges of the world through love (and, of course, difficult decisions and hard work).

Please accept this short Musing as a sort of tiny school Valentine, perhaps imagining a candy heart attached.

ERRATA

Yes, yes, thanks Howard and Mark. Lincoln indeed was the 16^th president. The 14^th president was the forgettable Franklin Pierce.

Happy Valentines Day, especially to my valentine!

Glenn