Love and the Human Spirit

The season of love is upon us again!  Happy Valentine's Day.  I hope you are in for a week full of love and friendship, and most of all, lots of chocolate. 

I have some fun news to share.  Rumor has it Hadley Rille Books will be offering a special Valentine's Day Promotion starting on Wednesday.  I'll be sure to announce things on the right hand bar of this website as the sale becomes official.  You can also visit Eolyn on Facebook for the most up-to-date information. 

Over on Heroines of Fantasy, Mark Nelson has written a wonderful post about love in fantasy.  I don't agree with everything he has to say, but as usual, he got me thinking.  Mark is looking for fantasy fiction that celebrates long-term stable love.  If you know of a title or movie that will satisfy his craving, stop by Heroines of Fantasy and tell us about it.

I spend so much time reflecting on -- and writing about -- love, that I don't have anything new of my own to scribble on my blog this week.  But I did come across something very special that I can share:  Helen Fisher's Why We Love, Why We Cheat. 

Helen Fisher is an anthropologist, author, and (as you will see) a gifted speaker.  This brief presentation takes us on the incredible journey of human love, from the depths of prehistory to the present day, and beyond.

Fisher talks about how the brains of men and women differ, and she reveals the distinction between lust, romantic love, and attachment from neurophysiological and evolutionary standpoint.  Although her focus is the science of love, she never once abandons its poetry. 

This video has been around for a while, but I only came across it today -- right in time for the Week of Luv -- thanks to a recommendation from my good friend Suzanne Hunt.  Please watch and enjoy as Fisher paints a broad and beautiful canvass of love and the human spirit. 






For more videos of Helen Fisher and related topics, visit TED.

A Season for Love

Last night I purchased my tickets for the Kansas City Ballet production of Romeo and Juliet, opening at the Kauffmann Center for Performing Arts next week.  I haven't seen the ballet in years, and I don't believe I've ever had the opportunity to see it live.  I am very much looking forward to the performance.

Romeo and Juliet has me thinking, once again, about Epic Love, a topic I wrote about on this blog some time ago.  Epic Love continues to be one of the most visited posts on this site.  I may return to the topic of Epic Love next week on Heroines of Fantasy.  I would definitely like to write something about love; we'll see what the muse inspires.

In the mean time, this week on Heroines of Fantasy Terri-Lynne DeFino has invited us to rewrite the story of Valentine and his true love Adalaide.  I have to admit, we're off to a kind of rocky start.  Last time we did a group story, it worked out really well.  But this week everyone seems to have a different story in mind; and it's not always clear that any given set of phrases is following from what was written previously.  I'm going to blame this on a syndrome Costa Ricans would call malenamorado -- We must all be distracted, in a bad way, by love.  Please stop by and help us straighten out our love story.

Speaking of love-related events, I've been invited to participate in a celebration of love on the blog of Terri Giuliano.  From February 14th through the 22nd, more than forty authors will post on her site about various topics related to love.  Guests will share their thoughts on love and family, friends and animals; on passionate and contented love; on love of food, music, language and writing. I will be up with my own post on February 22.


Visit Terri Giuliano's “For the Love of Love” event to vote on your favorite posts and have a chance of winning a unique prize: one voter will be chosen to have a character named after them in Terri’s next book! Two runners up will also win signed copies of Terri Giuliano Long’s bestselling novel, In Leah’s Wake.

That's the news for the moment.  I hope you are all having a lovely week.