As we approach the celebration of Valentine's Day and all its inherent romantic, commercial excess, I wonder what we really think it means to love someone.

I received a missive recently in which children were asked, "What does love mean?" As I was reading through it, I was brought up short by this observation from a four year old! He said that when someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth. My heart skipped a beat. In its childlike simplicity, can you imagine anything more profound? We take into ourselves the true essence of our loved one and within our being they know a feeling of warmth, acceptance, and security. Their spirit as well as their body is safe with us. In fact, the two cannot be separated.

May the loving way in which you speak the name of your beloved(s) this Valentine's Day and every day forward be uttered with the constant, gentle, and innocent expression of our truest feelings. What do you think?

Up front, I want to be clear. I truly enjoy a juicy blueberry, strawberry , or a raspberry. I frequent my local liberry, and I own many pieces of art by Gilberry. However, I do not own a BlackBerry. How have I survived organizing my daily commitments in order to write this?

I am now quite enthralled with my little iPod, but do not own an iPhone or an iPad. The only Facebook I see is if I am looking at a tome on make-up tricks. The only Twitter I really enjoy is the one the birds make when Max goes out to feed them.

Today, too often the only communication we seem capable of is with our thumbs. On that note I would like to give a" thumbs up" to Charles Dickens, who penned this thought over 150 years ago. Could this be the ghost of Communication Present reminding us of Communication Past and cautioning us to be wary of Communication Future?

"Electric communication will never be a substitute for the face of someone, who with their soul, encourages another person to be brave and true."

I do recognize the value in personal electronic communication. Otherwise you would not be reading this. However, would you agree that, given a choice, you would rather share time with a person than with a qwerty?

A Revelation for Your Resolution

As we begin a new year it seems we are inundated with media calls to make the dreaded New Year's Resolution. The problem I have with this is that it assumes that we are somehow not right the way we are. Now, I do realize that we all have room for improvement in our lives but I wonder if it is necessary to make the major changes that are trumpeted from the rooftops.

I will offer for your consideration this option. We are each totally unique human beings and this is stamped most effectively in our DNA. At one time I did look up the scientific meaning for this acronym and my eyesight as well as my mind boggled at the actual word. How about this possibility? Our DNA allows us to Discover New Attitudes. Great! Now, watch what happens when we change one small letter. Simply change the first "t" in attitudes to a "p" and we now are able to Discover New Aptitudes. Wait, it gets better. Now change the "p" to an "l" and we can now Discover New Altitudes. The sky can be the limit, one small letter and one small step at a time. What do you think?