So apparently August is Romance Awareness Month which makes perfect sense since its the month that my hubby and I got married, my parents got married, my aunt and uncle got married, and my grandparents got married. I cant speak for anyone else, but we chose August for our wedding for reasons totally unrelated to romance.
Honestly, August just worked for our schedule: 6 weeks after finals and a month before we had to be back in school. We figured that would give us some time to adjust to married life before we plunged back into our college courses. I cant remember if it worked.
Now that weve been married for over half our lives, romance is becoming an even more illusive concept, especially when it comes to our anniversary. We even spent our anniversary in separate time zones one year. (Not much romance in that since we didnt even know how to Skype yet.)
So where does romance fit in after all this time? Im not sure I even remember what it is.
Lacking any books on the subject, I turned to the internet. I figured Cosmo might have something to say on the subject, so I went to their website and typed romance in the handy search bar. 109 articles came up. Since I only had an hour tops until hubby came home and caught me, I thought I better limit my research to one or two of these. Which to choose?
Just looking at the top 10, I eliminated a few right away: Is Splitting the Bill Hurting Your Romance? (havent split a bill with him in about 25 years), Personalized Romance Novel (like sexy madlibs?), and How to Date a Coworker (wouldnt do a thing for my marriage). Down to 7. Cross off the fashion advice, celebrity gossip, romance survey results, and the book club recommendations and I was down to 2: 12 Romance Rituals to Start and The Passion Python.
Since children and my in-laws read my blog, I chose the 12 Romance Rituals.
What I found from reading those 12 Rituals is that over the last 25 years or so, weve done some version of them: Go on a vacation, give massages, make a sexy playlist, go on a picnic. Weve even watched True Blood together.
Heres my take-away from all this ‘research’: Be more intentional about romance…..Which brings me full-circle back to Romance Awareness Month. Now I get it. Being aware of the romantic possibilities helps you seize the moment.
Since I suck at being spontaneous, Ive added Be Romantic to my weekly to-do list. Does that make it any less meaningful? Youll have to ask my hubby.