When I decided to sell off my business, move to the Pacific Northwest, travel on a more regular basis, and quench my desire for becoming a full-time writer and romance author, I became obsessed with learning all I could about romance.
Now, I’m a woman who probably knows a thing or two about the subject. Or so I thought. I met my husband when I was in high school by dating his best friend. I started dating my husband when we were in college. We were married in our early 20’s, and have been married for almost thirty years.
That also has put me into a sort of tunnel-vision where romance is concerned. So like any good writer, I started to research.
Millions of results come up when you start Googling romance:
There’s a wiki to teach you how to be romantic: Be thoughtful. Be creative. Keep things fresh.
That seems easy enough. But like any good researcher, I kept looking.
I found 10 Ways To Make Your Relationship Magically Romantic, 50 Ways To Make Your Relationship More Romantic Right NOW, 75 Little Ways to Be Romantic Every Day Of The Year, and 1001 Ways To Be More Romantic Than Ever.
Yikes.
The more research I did, the more concerned I became. Was I doing this whole thing right?
How do you become more romantic in a relationship? Was it possible to improve romance over the phone? Or maybe I wasn’t texting the right way. Maybe that’s an area where I could kick our romance up a notch or two.
Okay. Type into Google How To Be Romantic Over Text.
Now I have access to The 20 Most Romantic Texts Ever Sent. 120 Romantic Love Text Messages For Him. I can even Learn How To Be Romantic with Romantic Text Messages.
So I did. I read all the advice. Chose my words carefully. And typed away.
Send.
His reply?
It doesn’t take anything earth-shattering, costly, or out of this world to make someone feel special. It simply takes you. Being you.
Because when you put YOU into whatever you do, and if they really care about you, they’ll get your message. Whether it’s a text, a phone call, or a long talk while hiking through a park.
All anyone truly wants is connection. That’s what romance is: connection.
And if you have that, it’s everything.