Dissecting the Infamous Cliche

I confess...I am about as cliche as they come. All English-major knowledge aside, I am such a sucker for them. Maybe I'm a true romantic, maybe I'm cheesy, maybe I'm flat-out ridiculous...most likely all of the above. How often do you have to say something before it becomes just another expression to be stowed in a generational vault?

It makes me wonder, then, for all its many uses and contexts, how "I love you" never seems to get old.

"I miss you" still means your presence is notably absent.

Can we ever say these things too much?

Maybe we can. Maybe we need to start considering how our actions line up with these words.

Maybe love is accepting that chivalry has merely been forgotten, not killed. It just needs to be brought back.

Maybe caring for someone is more than offering practical advice, but refusing to cringe when they cry so hard that their snot gets all over your shirt. Because what ordinary person can handle someone at their worst, and consequently appreciate them more at their best?

It's easy to love and care for those who show the same qualities to you...anyone can do that. It doesn't take any extraordinary talent or depth of character. But loving others who look at you as someone who isn't good enough to even be the scum on the bottom of their sneakers...that's real love. It's often mistakenly labeled as insanity or even codependency. But so many of us are afraid to put ourselves out there, to be chewed up and spit back out.

I have a better understanding of what this looks like having been a waitress, believe it or not. I don't want to be someone who bends over backwards for customers who treat me like a lower-class citizen because I'm desperate for a tip, and don't want them calling my manager on me. I want to be someone who willingly -- maybe someday, when I'm a little more mature, even joyfully -- serves others because I understand how much of a chore it is for others to love the worst in me.

And of course I am well aware of what the worst of me looks like. Denying it won't hide its existence. But accepting that fact about me makes it a little bit easier to take the baby steps toward forgiving someone for even the most vile of offenses...because my own disgust for the weaknesses of other people doesn't make me any better.

This is my cliched sermonette for the evening :)

And this is the guy who has reminded me that chivalry is still alive and well:

Whoever came up with the idea for ugly Christmas sweater parties is a genius. I'm kind of a sucker for those too.