Exploring Romance: Nostalgic Inspirations and Heartfelt Expressions of Love.

What’s your definition of romantic?

Introduction:

First off – the silly aka regular definition(s) of romantic are:

• conducive to or characterized by the expression of love.
• of, characterized by, or suggestive of an idealized view of reality.
• a person with romantic beliefs or attitudes.
• a writer or artist of the romantic movement.

My Summary:

The first one, means how someone expresses their love. I can relate to this one as I tend to be extremely romantic in relationships. Everyone does it differently, whether its giving gifts, planning dates, acts of service, and other thoughtful things!

The second one, means that the romantic person idealizes a certain period or era. Whether it’s wishing they were born in that era, or loving and idolizing the ideals.

The third one, means and is categorized by someone being overwhelmed with or dominated by thoughts, feelings, and attitudes characteristic of or suitable for romance; passionate, adventurous, idealistic, etc.

And, lastly the fourth one is defined as an artist or author who is inspired by the early nineteenth century. It describes the movement in art and literature distinguished by a new interest in human psychology, expression of personal feeling and interest in the natural world.

Some examples of artists and authors of this category are:

• Caspar David Friedrich
• Eugène Delacroix
• John Constable
• William Wordsworth
• Samuel Taylor Coleridge
• Percy Bysshe Shelley

My Take:

I resonate more with the first, second and third ones! And, consider myself a romantic in that sense. Which one(s) do you resonate with?

The Why?

I resonate with these, mainly because I know myself as a person. My tendencies towards romance I’ve learned over my 33 years, and they’ve led to the realization that I should be content in my season of singleness. It’s taken a long time, and many tears to be at peace with this. It’s really hard to do, especially if you feel your clock is ticking but God has a plan and He’s working in your life! Trust Him.

Daydreams, Romance, and Eras – Oh My!

In Anne of Green Gables I believe she was a romantic. She was often daydreaming… with her head in the clouds. For this reason, I think that a romantic is someone who seems like they’re in a different world, or someone who idealizes an era. For me, it’s the 50’s – it just seems like such a wholesome, elegant, and overall lovely decade. Sometimes, I feel I was born in the wrong era. But, God has a plan, so I guess I wasn’t. What era do you love?

Idealized Romance:

As a romantic old fashioned woman, I gravitate towards loving anything and everything vintage. I love the music, the fashion, the style, the films, the home decor, the kitchen-ware (Pyrex!!) and much more!

The reasoning behind my love for anything and everything vintage is:

There’s just a certain class, and elegance that I don’t see in the world nowadays. Men wore suits while men nowadays wear crop tops, or pants down to their knees.

Women wore beautiful dresses and beautifully styled hair, mens haircuts were more handsome too.

The films, songs and TV shows, were both wholesome… sure, there were some references but they don’t compare to the “E” and “R” rated songs/movies/and shows nowadays. I also love the cars, especially pink convertibles, volkswagen beatles and buses and such. The vintage bikes were also beautiful and whimsy! Don’t get me started on the Decor, and kitchen-ware. Haha! The fifties were simply a lovely decade.

Romantic Moi:

As a romantic (in the sense of love) – when dating someone I often express my love by spoiling them with handmade and store bought gifts. I’m a hardcore gift giver and I adore spoiling and making people smile! The light in their eyes when they open a gift is so worth it to me! Which means, I love Christmas! It’s just such a magical season.

I love planning dates and coming up with ideas for new places to visit, and check off our bucket list. I’m also a very passionate person!

I enjoy being in relationships, but at the moment I’m embracing my season of singleness. Maybe I’ll talk about that in another blog. This relates to romanticism because I’m taking time to work on myself and partake in my other areas of romance. I still give gifts to people, do acts of service, daydream, and have my head in the clouds like Anne of Green Gables.

What does the Bible Say About Love?

Here are some bible verses below regarding love.

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Ephesians 5:1-2

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.

John 15:9

In Conclusion:

I think romantic is a broad term as there’s many definitions. Not everyone is categorized under the same definition… so with that being said, How are you romantic?