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For all those romantic goths and Victorian goths; for everyone who's
watched Gomez & Morticia and wished they could find "that" kind of
romance...
Have you ever watched a movie, or read a book, where someone got
a beautiful love letter that made you ache inside because you'd never
inspired that desire in someone? Never received a letter like that? The
whole point of a love letter is that someone was so filled with emotion
they had to write to you. Ordering flowers or sending a cute e-card is
easy & takes a couple mouse-clicks or a credit card. Writing a love
letter is more intense, more passionate, more tender, and far more
involved.
In both Renaissance and Victorian times, love letters played a major
role in courting and relationships. Impassioned missives pledging love
and devotion; using words as kisses and caresses. Even the vikings
wrote love letters, one from the 12th century was found, written on
birch bark. The Japanese ritual of Haiku was fundamental in forming
positive, romantic relationships -- and if we think we've cornered the
market on long distance relationships, you merely need think of Cyrano
sending love letters to his beloved each day of the war...
Some people say there is no point in writing letters when you can call
or ICQ the person you're thinking about. Don't they realize a love letter
is something that can be read over and over again, kept and treasured?
There's a reason so many love letters have survived the ages. The
receiver kept them carefully, tied in little bundles with silk ribbon or
locked in small cabinets of scented wood, hidden under their pillows or
in the back of a favorite book. Love letters are a way to express
yourself and say things you might be too embarrassed or shy to say in
person; a chance to perfect the words, the turn of phrase or
expression.
A well-written love letter can excite the senses, whet the appetite for
passion and romance. And believe me, so many of today's relationships
might be loving and comfortable, content and happy, but many of them
are sorely lacking in passion and romance. If you want romance in your
life and relationship, you have to start it yourself. Be the kind of person
you want to be with. Male or female, be willing to pen a letter. Spend
some time and effort. Make it more than "Hi sweetie, I was thinking
about you."
A love letter can be made with a variety of materials. Everything from
expensive paper to newspaper or corrugated cardboard, a scrap of
velvet to a piece of glass. Be creative! Be passionate! Whether your
scrawling words across a newspaper in black sharpie, or paint your
love letter on a piece of glass that could be hung on the wall, writing on
parchment and then making origami roses of each verse, it's the
emotions and the intentions that will make your beloved breathless. Roll
it into a scroll and tie with a scrap of silk ribbon, tuck under their pillow
or slide it under their door, slip it over the antenna of their car for them
to find when they leave for work. Buy a print of their favorite painting
and write your love letter across the back in colored ink (make sure it
doesn't bleed through!)
Quite a bit of the goth aesthetic is steeped in passion and romance, the
erotic and mysterious. If anyone has a chance of reviving this lost art,
it's us.
And wilt thou have me fashion into speech
The love I bear thee, finding words enough,
And hold the torch out, while the winds are rough,
Between our faces, to cast light on each?
Elizabeth Barrett Browning - Songs From The Portuguese
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