My favorite pictures are the one's captured candidly, unknowingly, and in motion. They are able to achieve beauty from the lens of the viewer far richer than any smile has propped a fist under it's chin and posed at Sears. I'm absolutely in love with this picture to the right. We have no idea what sort of relationship this couple has, but we can infer that in that moment in 1945, that man was so passionate about that woman, that he couldn't help but kiss her, even in the public streets of New York. I wonder if this woman was giddy for days? I wonder how many times she replayed this sweet declaration in her head? And, I wonder what happened to guys like this.I got asked on a real date by one of the chefs in the kitchen. He's cute, 29, and painfully shy. He knows I'm leaving in a month, and can't expect this to go anywhere. At best I will have a new pen pal, so why did I say "yes"? Because he had the COHONES to ASK me for a "date" thats why!! This is a foreign word to guys nowadays. Today they want to "hang out", and be able to keep their options open...and in doing so, create confusion and socially awkward moments when paying for dinner (I don't want him to think I'm after his money, but I dont want to imasculate him by paying), door opening (I'm certainly capable of opening my door, but will I seem like less of a lady? Who made these rules anyway?), and end of the evening departure (do we shake hands? high-five? You're certainly not getting kissed without first a series of dates followed by a vocalizing of your affections). With little affirmation and mixed signals, what am I supposed to think? Don't get me wrong...I thoroughly enjoy "hanging out" with my platonic male friends, who at some point or another, have been labeled platonic. I love knowing it will go un-noticed who pays, drives, or has something in their teeth. But as far as couples go, I think Song of Solomon paints the prettiest picture of how a man pursues and woos a woman. And thats how it should be. I think thats how it was designed. I think thats the very reason guys love the chase, and girls love to be chased. God is explaining through picture.
I think girls today lack gumption (see 'the Holiday'), and allow themselves to be strung along on a leash, hoping for a guy who is only half-interested. If you are a girl reading this, and you have been questioning some guy's feelings for a while now, I plead with you...reach within and find some resource, remember what makes you shine, let it go, stick him in your friend-zone and move on! No...no more 'what ifs'? Just do it!!....Why? Because there ARE men out there who will like you enough to forgo other options and pursue a REAL date. You won't have to question anything. It seems to me that when men know what they want, they generally go for it. And if you're a guy out their reading this...and you've been hanging out with a girl and keeping her at arms length to make sure she doesn't feel attached...too late, and why are you doing that?! The only words I can find for that are 1.-Jr.High, and 2.-Bullshit. Love her or let her go. Life is too short to make a game of it.
I'm probably coming across as a feminist, which I am not at all...I've just been mingling with Jane Austen lately. I am also fully aware these roles can be reversed among the sexes. My point is this; I am 25 and single, yes. But I have a choice in this matter you see. I can whine and wallow about it and wonder if something is wrong with me...OR, I can live my life in adventure, make as many friends as I can along the way, and think of men no more than a grain of salt...UNTIL the day I'm standing in Times Square, New York and a sailor walks into my life and dips me.
