Thursday, February 10, 2011

playlist: Valentine 2011

i've decided to do things differently this time.

seriously.

ordinarily, i'd be dreading this time of year. for reasons too many and too great and all too familiar for far too many of us (for some perhaps more than others, but for all certainly to some degree).

but i've decided to do things differently this time.

this time, i've resolved myself to face this Valentine's with a more positive outlook. no denial, no disparagement, no disavowal, no disgust. no chagrin, no fear, no hiding, no fuss. no intense workouts to burn myself out for the day. no blackout from all media to close myself from the world.

no, this time i've resolved to open up. this time i've resolved to accept. this time i've resolved to embrace. and enjoy. and imbibe. and yes, even welcome. all that the day may bring me.

because, you see, i've come to an understanding regarding February 14, and it's one that resolves this day of its schism in asking me to celebrate the one thing i do not have.

the understanding is this:

love is intangible. for all the concrete expressions we seek in actions and words and things that we think can show love, they are all ultimately just that: expressions. conveying the message of a deeper meaning that we cannot define and cannot describe but which we can only identify as an abstract idea whose presence we have come to name as love.

as an intangible, as an abstract, as an idea, love is inexplicable. incredible. indelible. invisible. untouchable. unpredictable. uncontrollable. unknowable. unimaginable.

it just is.

as a result, it asks that we go beyond proof and accept its existence as a matter of faith. in other words, it asks us to believe.

even for those of us for whom there is nothing to believe.

but it's important that we believe.

because love, for all its ethereal qualities, is without question one of the most powerful forces in creation. with love, creatures great and small have found themselves motivated and empowered to achieve the greatest feats ever known in measure far exceeding their own making, with consequences that have reverberated far beyond themselves in space and time. with love, mountains have been moved, rivers have been altered, civilizations have been changed, history has been rewritten. with love, the earth and the stars and the sea and the heavens have all become known by name. with love, eternity has become changed.

with love, life has been made.

and that makes love profound.

and that makes love divine.

and that means that love, even as much as it may not be the secret of the universe, is one of its greatest, most fundamental, most sacred truths.

and so if we aspire to become more than what we are, if we endeavor to surpass the measure of our making, if we hope to realize the majesty that lies within the reaches of the heavens, then we need to celebrate the truths which will lead us there.

and we should believe.

even for those of us for whom there is nothing to believe.

and oh yeah, the playlist. here, have one on me:

marc cohn: true companion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sp6zoc84NcU


john hiatt: have a little faith in me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aYxMuLb3h8


rosi golan: think of me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Jl9z9-dFz4


raccoon: love you more: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1I1FNZKaxA


armin van buuren: love you more: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dtw8E85t-w0


david guetta: when love takes over: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zudbz4hOcbc


bruno mars: just the way you are: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-ujK7ojtUY


michael buble: crazy love: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iFxwh5LTxU


michael buble: a love song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdYfB4TzvZU


michael buble: haven't met you yet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ecn9aiYkng


placido domingo: nessun dorma: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RdJmqLrsbo


andrea bocelli: ama, credi e vai: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcV-8g2jZIY


florent pagny: lo le canto per te: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQdsCL_g1dM


taylor swift: jump then fall: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lhOpo9qomQ


petra haden: let your love flow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKHnpwAJ02E

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