Valentine’s Day for the Solitaire
2/14/2021
I certainly hadn’t planned to write anything today with a theme of Valentine’s Day, or my own thoughts and reflections on the holiday, celebrating a day of human love and often the romantic. Not only have a written a prior entry in my journal, or diary, I will be indeed writing two entries for today, which is quite rare for this diary that no one reads.
The truth is that I merely wanted to write down my own experience of meditation, which occurred spontaneously today, the benefits I often experience in the practice.
After meditating today, and writing about the experience: I returned to my morning exercise routine, which consists of a regular abdominal routine and a set of squats and arm exercises, as well as a few push-ups. I am a single man, although I have been in love five times before, and had the feelings reciprocated, but at this age: I am beyond the age where I feel any real sadness at being single on Valentine’s Day this year.
The reason for my second entry today is to note: I received and opened a Valentine, or letter from a friend living in the United Kingdom. I had received it in the mail a few days ago, or perhaps even a week, but decided that I would wait until Valentine’s Day to open it. After finishing my abdominal routine, I saw the unopened letter on my standing desk, and remembered to open it. The letter was from my friend, India, a dear friend and former colleague that I worked with in Madrid, when I was taking a break from my legal career to work at a bilingual school. She wrote to me about her life now during the pandemic, and some of the frustrations at the isolation that results from quarantine: as the world is currently in the midst of a global pandemic: the COVID-19 pandemic. What struck me about her letter was that she also remarked on her own reflections on the form of communication: the limitations of corresponding via computer or our constant confrontation with screens and electronic devices. In my own life, I have felt the same frustrations with electronic mediums: the immediacy of response and options presented is overwhelming, and at time, begets real reflection. I enjoyed reading her handwritten letter so much more than I would have if the same writing had been presented over a screen. It’s hard to explain. In one line, she wrote: “I strongly believe we will meet again in person some time. I’m not sure when but I feel that we will.” I think that was my favorite line of the letter that I read. I hope that we will.
