I sat down to write a post about the most obvious topic of all for today-love.  That is something we all consider on Valentine’s Day, whether we choose to acknowledge it as a legitimate holiday or not.  It’s all too easy to take a cynical approach and call it a “holiday made up by the greeting card companies” because of its hype based around heart-shaped and chocolate wares, but the holiday has been around far longer the commercialism of the twentieth century.

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In the past what we now call Valentine’s Day held other meanings, from pagan beginnings that involved blood sacrifices and fertility rituals, to martyred saints. Interestingly paper cards to celebrate the day have actually been around since the Middle Ages.[i]

The main purpose of the holiday as we know it, however, is love; to be celebrated, contemplated, longed for.  It is a day to cherish those who share our lives, whether they are spouses, lovers, family, or friends.  How exactly we choose to express our feelings about them holds as many options as there are relations out there.

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So how do you pick from the multitude of merchandise, from the plethora of songs, from the abundance of flowers, to the profusion of restaurants offering packages just for this one day?  How do you choose to show the one(s) you care about the most how you feel?  Do you even need to spend money to convey your feelings, or can you find a better way to express your love?

The most important thing to consider is the object of your affections.  What will they appreciate the most?  Are they certified chocoholics, or have some other weakness you can use to your advantage?  Do they prefer to go out, or spend a quiet evening at home?  The best gift is one tailored especially to your love, whatever that may be.

And while you are choosing something special your valentine will appreciate, don’t forget to insert a little of your own unique personality as well.  Those who return our affections will be most impressed with a gift that celebrates what the two of you have in common, or that that show an investment of thought and time from the giver.

Don’t despair if you’ve put off marking this day to the very last minute-there’s still time to text or to go old school and make a handwritten card with a special message, or plan a special meal, even if that is just a heart-shaped pizza and a favorite dessert.  Put on the radio, light some candles, and dance with your special people.  Face time if you can’t be together.  Watch a movie you love.  Above all, put into words just exactly what these individuals mean to you, how much you appreciate them today, and always.

However you choose to celebrate it, Happy Valentine’s Day to you all.

Amy

[i] For more information on the history of Valentine’s Day see this link: http://www.npr.org/2011/02/14/133693152/the-dark-origins-of-valentines-day

Do you ever play the guessing game when watching your favorite TV show?  Do you try to predict who the killer is or who is having an affair before the stars come back from the next commercial break?  While a good show will keep its viewers guessing right up to the very end, there are actually a finite number of variables the writers have to work with.  While there are a very large number of possible outcomes to any scenario, there are only so many choices to be made without becoming predictable, or being compared to a show on another channel.

Everything old becomes new again.

After all, who wants to be accused of copying someone else’s ideas?  It’s said that there are no original story ideas left, and that every plot, every story, is a repetition of something that’s been done before, many times.  It’s true there are trends in media and in literature; there are certain subjects that enjoy such popularity that they are omnipresent, if only for a short while.

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For example, Zombies are really popular right now.  You can watch them on multiple TV channels and at the box office.  You can read about them in all types of books or shoot them in a number of video games.  You can even buy tee-shirts depicting the best way to survive a zombie apocalypse (my son has one).  Zombies are not really a new idea.  The “undead hordes” have been popular for multiple generations, and are close cousins with the old-fashioned victims of voodoo curses of past plotlines.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

The fact is, certain story ideas are timeless, and I don’t just mean those that involve time travel, another popular trend that sees a resurgence every few years.   From Orson Wells’ machine to alien time lords, we have long been enamored by the concept of changing the past or previewing the future early.  Whether an adventurer faces prehistoric monsters or futuristic mutants, or simply has the opportunity to right a terrible wrong, we will tune in each week or turn the pages to see history as it is remade to a writer’s whim.

There is nothing new under the sun. It has all been done before.

 Sherlock Holmes quotes 

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Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic character Sherlock Holmes, written in the late 19^th century, features a famous detective and his veteran-doctor companion.  Almost every school child is familiar with Doyle’s works, and not just because it’s required reading in literature.  Sherlock is still as vital today as he was in 1890, thanks to imitation ranging from a Disney mouse detective to a plethora of movie adaptations.  (Of course, in my opinion the best of these is from the BBC/Masterpiece show titled simply “Sherlock” which is finally back for its fourth season, and stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman.)

An idea may not be completely original, but that doesn’t always mean it’s familiar to us.  An enterprising writer can take an old idea and reshape it in such a way that its feels brand new.   In the end, what matters most to us regarding our TV/movie/literature characters and plots is that we are entertained.

So the next time you indulge in watching or reading, consider-does the plot seem familiar?  Does the writer keep you guessing, or are there enough clues provided that you can determine the ending?  Does your enjoyment come from suspense, or the familiarity of a favorite theme?  I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.

I leave you with one more of mine-even if an idea is not original, each new generation can provide an audience to hear and see it for the first time, and an interpreter to retell a story in an entirely new manner.

Thanks for reading,

Amy

When we can order supplies from an Internet supplier with a verbal command, pre-program washing machines and dishwashers to start cycles at a certain time, and have small robots clean floors for us, today’s houses are starting to sound like a science fiction story.

This past Christmas my husband gifted me with an Alexa Dot, a device that, with a verbal command, will give the speaker updates on weather or notes on personal calendars, play music from an Amazon account or other Wi-Fi sources, connect to blue tooth devices, and a whole list of functions that can be downloaded.

This little gadget is only one more example of the amazing inventions that have come to pass, and the level of technology that is now commonplace at home.  We now have programmable thermostats and security systems that can be controlled from a smartphone.  We are being spoilt by devices that can record our favorite TV shows, pay for our gas with a wave of a piece of plastic the size of a thumb, and give us satellite data about current traffic conditions.

Ray Bradbury’s prophetic short story, “August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains,” published originally in 1950, tells of a house that was so automated that it continued performing duties for a family no longer around to appreciate it.  Today, we are very close to achieving the level of automation in our homes that Bradbury envisioned, though hopefully our future will not be as bleak as in the story!

“In the living room the voice-clock sang, Tick-tock, seven o’clock, time to get up, time to get up, seven o’clock! as if it were afraid that nobody would. The morning house lay empty.”

A house that could potentially run itself is probably not that far off in the future, certainly something I could see in our lifetimes.  The question is, how will we manage?  What will we do to fill our spare time when we no longer have “housework” to do, because the house takes care of it for us?

Will we become so reliant on our technology that we can no longer function without it, or will we use our free time to become more productive, more creative, and more capable in other endeavors?

I welcome your thoughts on this subject; it is hard to dispute though that we are living in interesting times.

Happy 2017!

Amy

p.s. there is a YouTube video of Leonard Nimoy reading this classic story, just follow the link here: https://youtu.be/LzhlU8rXgHc

Not to brag, but I’m in a good place.  I’ve finished my holiday mini-breakdown and survived the stress of more-things-to-do-than-there-is-time for another year.   Of course, I got an early start.  I was already agonizing about gifts in September, so I’ve had plenty of time to work through the pressure and guilt of wanting to make the perfect holiday for my family.

Why do we put ourselves through this anyway?  Why is every holiday a competition, either with family and friends, or ourselves, to see how we can improve upon gifts, decorations, food, or numbers of obligations over what we accomplished last year?  And have we really lost sight of the real meaning of the holidays, in our overwhelming commercialism?

Some of us, and I have been guilty of this myself; stress ourselves out too badly to actually enjoy the season.  If you’re not one of those lucky individuals who seem to thrive on stress, I say it’s time to give yourself a break.

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It’s time to step back, take a deep breathe, or several, and think about what is truly important.  What is actually necessary to make our holidays meaningful, and what can we simply let go?  Prioritize.  Do your kids always ask to make a gingerbread house with you but you can never seem to find the time?  What other activity could you let go to make their wish happen?  Kids grow up too quickly; it won’t be cool to decorate cookies with you forever.

Find ways to “cheat” on holiday chores you don’t enjoy, or that don’t have as much meaning for you.  Consider holding or attending one less function, or not making every food item from scratch.  It’s perfectly okay to use mixes, or order food from the deli or a restaurant if it eases some of the burden we put upon ourselves so we can actually enjoy our holiday parties.

Take time to do the things you love, with the people you love, and consider what is actually meaningful to you.  Do you have a favorite Christmas movie?  Why not plan a Christmas theme movie night?  It’s just the thing to help you unwind after a long day of work, shopping, and dealing with traffic and holiday crowds.

Above all, take the time to breathe, relax, and remember the true meaning of the holidays-the spirit of love and generosity, the quality time to spend with loved ones, the joy and camaraderie to share with family and strangers alike.  This is the time of year “when we all act a little nicer, we, we, we smile a little easier, we, w-w-we, we, we cheer a little more. For a couple of hours out of the whole year, we are the people that we always hoped we would be!” (Frank Cross in Scrooged, 1988).

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!

Amy