WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW, IS LOVE, SWEET LOVE... BY SANDRA HARRIS.







WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW, IS LOVE, SWEET LOVE...

BY SANDRA HARRIS. ©

Well, another Valentine’s Day is here and yet another postman is laid up in bed, possibly for days if not weeks, after humping all my cards, flowers, boxes of chocolates and other tokens and tributes of love and esteem to my front door from the postal van. The poor fella. I must remember to write him a card and drop it round to his house later.

If it’s anything like last year, however, I expect his distraught wife will come to the front door and cry buckets about how Harry- that’s his name, Harry- won’t be able to work for weeks with his ruined back thanks to my post-load and what are they supposed to live on and how do I live with myself knowing that my beauty, charm, intelligence and sex appeal has broken yet another poor postman who, after all, was only doing his job…?

It can get very trying, being so charismatic and sexually irresistible all the time. It’s not like how you guys think it is. It’s really not all red carpets and dates with the guy who plays Thor, you know. It’s only like that a teensy-weensy fraction of the time. The rest of the time it’s actually quite mundane, honestly.

Seriously, though, what I really want to say to you this Valentine’s Day is this. Firstly, the last twelve months have possibly been the toughest on record. The Ukraine war may be inching towards its end but this will likely involve a degree of compromise that pocket-rocket Zelenskyy and his exhausted countrymen find unpalatable or maybe even unacceptable.

Likewise, the dreadful war in Gaza might be nearing its end now that President Trump is sticking his finger in the pie, but his ideas for a ‘Riviera of the Middle East’ have appalled people, so who knows what the end of that war might look like for the Palestininians…?

Then there’s climate change. Storm Eowyn, the most recent Irish weather disturbance, uprooted gigantic old trees, tore the roofs off buildings, killed one man and left thousands of people without water or electricity for up to three weeks. That’s just not acceptable in this day and age. Before that were the California wildfires, and there have been floods all over Europe, including Britain, our neighbour, at various points throughout the year.

The current American administration doesn’t believe in climate change, nor really in pandemics like the most recent COVID-19 or coronavirus one. This doesn’t bode well for the future. There will be more climate disasters, and most likely more pandemics too. How will we cope with them if the biggest country in the world refuse to acknowledge these things exist?

The last few years have seen the biggest displacement of people since the Second World War. Millions of people are on the move thanks to war and climate disasters, and some countries, like Ireland, who’ve taken in maybe more than their fair share of refugees, are feeling a bit over-stretched, under-funded, under-appreciated and under-resourced. Not to mention a tad disgruntled with government, who still keep packing them in like sardines in a life-sized game of tetris.

Lawlessness has reached record levels in Ireland. A lot of people blame the pandemic for this. Also, we seem to have more death on our roads than any other country in Europe. Speed kills, and it seems to kill people nearly every day in Ireland. It’s so sad, week after week, to see Irish people on the News every evening, begging the courts for justice for their loved one who was run over and killed by a drunk driver or a driver on drugs.

Crimes against women are through the roof. Again, every week on the news you hear of another beautiful young mother who’s died violently at the hands of her partner or husband, leaving her children motherless and scarred for life. Women’s Aid in Ireland have a new campaign and a new slogan for this Valentine’s Day:

‘Roses are red,

Violets are blue,

Women are dying;

Men, we NEED you.

Short but sweet, isn’t it? Crimes against women are definitely up; ditto, crimes against the individual and against shops and even against poor defenceless animals. Conversely, sentences handed down by the court for these crimes- when prosecuted- seem to be getting softer and softer. What gives?

Don’t worry, I’m very slowly getting to my point, lol. The world is in a terrible state. We know that. Therefore, what better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day this year than by showing our world a little love? If you’re lucky enough to have a loving boyfriend or girlfriend, husband or wife, well, great, you’ve got a head start and you probably know what to do about celebrating the traditional way, with roses, chocolates, wine and smooching.

But even if you’re single, whether by choice or just circumstances, be creative and show the world- your world- some TLC. Tell your aged parents you love them. Kiss the cat, if he or she’ll let you! Adopt a rescue dog if you can. Nothing on this Earth loves you like your dog will. Talk to your plants, to your goldfish, your budgerigar. Talk to the old man over the garden fence who looks lonely, or tell a shop assistant to have a great day, and smile as if the help they’ve given you today means a lot to you.

Buy a gorgeous new journal, and write down in it all the things you are grateful for. Phone a friend you normally only text, or one you fell out with years ago and neither of you can remember why. Plant something in your garden or in a window box in the expectation of having a future in which it flourishes. 

Fill your bed with teddies or plushies and cuddle them while you sleep. Trust me, you won’t be the only adult who does this. The 'comfort and cuddles' industry is going great guns at the moment due to the number of adults who feel genuinely scared, sad, depressed or lonely.

If you’re a writer, write something. If you’re a poet, ditto. If you’re a painter, paint; a knitter, knit; a potter, pot; a dancer, dance; a runner, run. The world needs all the love, light, laughter, creativity, imagination, tolerance and compassion as it can lay its hands on in these turbulent times. If you feel like you have no-one in this world to love, then lavish a little love on yourself. It can’t hurt, and you might even grow to like it.

Happy Valentine’s Day, 2025. xxx



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