I loved Eclipse.
This is coming from the girl that rolled her eyes at Twilight and got really bored watching New Moon.
The third movie in the Twilight series left me breathless from beginning to end. My hopeless romantic side came to life. Sure, I floated back to Earth when the lines between fantasy and reality crossed… like when Edward said, “let’s wait until we’re married” as Bella was about to rip her clothes off.
It was right about then I started thinking about love and marriage in the present.
I was sad to admit it: Romance is dead.
Pretty much, anyways. In fact, Mr. Right is much more romantic than me, and supposedly, being a girl, I feed on that stuff.
My view is this: As people got busy, and then literally, “got busy,” the definition of romance was compromised. Even a hopeless romantic like myself has been dulled by birthday sex on the radio and plain exhaustion from making it through the day.
The first thought when I wrote “romance” and “everyday” was: who has the time?
Eclipse reminded me to make the time. Fight to keep romance alive and drink it in.
Looking for some easy ways to inject romance into everyday life? Try to:
Plan talking dates. Once the kids are in bed or the work put away, be present, TV and distractions off. Look at each other. Fall in love sharing ideas and dreams again.
Spark romance with romance. It’s easy to wait for the other person to make the first move. Start with the only thing you can control – yourself. Write a poem, give a back massage with no strings attached, buy flowers, send a sweet text message.
Shower together. This doesn’t have to lead to sex. Just enjoy the view, get clean and soak in a wet kiss.
Snuggle. Reach over to the other side of the bed and cuddle up, no matter how badly you need sleep.
Simply think of the other person. Pick up his favorite item at the grocery store, pour a glass of wine, take over the dishes for the night.
Cook together. Come up from behind to steal a kiss.
Dust off and open the wedding photo album.
Read in bed together. Just being quiet in the same room can be incredibly romantic.
Hold hands and walk around your own yard. See how the garden is growing, check out the new flowers popping up, share your plans for the patio.
Plan against routine. It’s so easy to fall into a rut and take each other for granted. Make it a routine to do the opposite. Steal away for the weekend, role play, have date nights just the two of you.
Fight counter-romance. Are you quick to point out the faults and expect the favors? Take a moment to think about how you act and behave, both in public and private. If something makes your cringe, make it better.
Slow dance. With or without music, with or without coordination.
Share an umbrella. The closeness reminds me: There is only him. When it rains, let romance pour.
All of my best nights have happened since I met you. – Edward Cullen, Eclipse
Photo by Miriam Cardoso de Souza
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SEE ALSO:
Easy Ways to Stop Being so Busy
How to Improve Marriage and Slow Down Life at the Same Time
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Sweet post, Melissa. Great ideas for putting the mojo back in your marriage. I’m lucky that my husband and I know we’re made for each other, want the same things out of life, and confident that we’ll never break up, but romance isn’t at the forefront all the time. You are right, it does take work to keep a relationship from going flat. We held hands last night when we walked over to get a gelato, but it was 40 degrees celcius and we just couldn’t sustain the sweaty palms. We tried, and I still love him to bits.
Haha! Sweaty palms. Romance should never be uncomfortable, right?
My husband has a surprise date planned for us Saturday night. I have no idea what we’re doing, but the anticipation is making me feel happy and loved all week long!
Romance should probably take center stage especially when we are too busy, too tired or too uninspired to remind couples what is really important. It will probably make some of our bigger stresses seem smaller than we think.