Bad romance

Do you know how they say that absence makes the heart grow fonder?  They’re so not lying.

As some of you may know, I lived in a long distance relationship for years…with snow.

In my mind, snow was this glorious, amazing thing.  It blanketed everything in sparkles.  It seemed to make everything just a bit quieter, just a bit cleaner, just a bit more magical.

Snow was fun.  It was playful.  Flirty. Romantic.

I’d missed it so much that when I came home for Christmas holidays to discover there wasn’t any snow on the ground… I was a little heartbroken.  Felt a bit stood up.

So I returned to Oz and continued to pine for snow.  By that time it had become pretty clear to me that I’d fallen truly, madly, deeply in love with snow.  At least I thought I’d fallen truly, madly, deeply in love with snow.

Then I moved back to Canada.  I was excited to experience the colour changes of fall, experience drastic changes of the seasons and finally, finally be reunited with snow.

When I caught the first glimpse of snow on Halloween that year, I was pretty damn excited.

But then the snow just kept coming.  It brought with it freezing weather, dry skin, wet boots, slippery sidewalks, treacherous driving conditions, and long, dark, dreary days.

Snow was kind of a disappointment.  Snow was a bit of a douche who didn’t know when it was time to go home and never cleaned up after himself.

It didn’t take long for me to realise I wasn’t at all in love with snow.  I was in love with the idea of snow.  Living with the reality of snow never, ever compared to the fantasy I’d built up about it in my head.  What a bummer.

My love for snow was all but gone by the end of that first winter home.  These days, I try to avoid it at all costs…

 

…That’s my long winded way of saying I’m kinda glad Snowmegeddon didn’t happen today.  And I’m not at all sorry for feeling that way.

 

 
photo credit: rachel_titiriga via photopin cc

The world needs more love letters.

So those of you that follow me on Twitter or read my blog may know that I’m on the love letter writing team for the World Needs More Love Letters.

This is an amazing project that started out so simply, but has grown into something huge. Hannah was leaving love letters she wrote to strangers across New York City. She truly believed in the strength of reaching out, even to a stranger, to say “Someone cares about you, you’re enough, you’re loved, people are thinking about you.” Through the connectedness of social media, soon Hannah was receiving requests for her love letters from people all over that needed some support or knew someone that was having a rough go. And so, in September 2011, The World Needs More Love Letters was born.
This is a project that is really close to my heart. And I think that’s a pretty big deal coming from me. I’m kinda known for my cynicism and jaded-ness. My cynicism was born from the fact that we humans seem to forget that we’ve all got stories, we’ve all come from somewhere and we’re all in this together. I believe in More Love Letters, because it reminds people that we’re all in this together and if we were all able to show a little more love, the world could truly be a better place.
Love Letters is looking for some support right now and with Valentine’s Day coming up, I was thinking what better way to show your loved ones you care about them than by sharing the love and supporting Love Letters. We could really use some help paying for all those stamps. Please visit the IndieGoGo campaign for More Love Letters or think about adopting a Love Letters Bundle or writing some love letters of your own to leave behind in your neighbourhood.