As I considered writing a blog post about kissing, I started doing some research (and, I’ll admit, a case study with my hubby). What I discovered is this: The beautiful act of two married people bringing their lips together in a kiss cannot sufficiently be addressed in a single post!
Thus, welcome to my three-part series on the ever-popular kiss.
Songs have been written about it. Have you heard the following?
- Kiss Me from Sixpence None the Richer
- This Kiss by Faith Hill
- Passionate Kisses by Mary Chapin Carpenter
- Kiss by Prince & the Revolution
- Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not? by Thompson Square
- A Kiss to Build a Dream On by Louis Armstrong
- The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s in His Kiss) by Betty Everett
- Bésame Mucho by [take your pick]
- Kiss by Dean Martin
I’m sure you could add to my brief list.
Poetry has been composed. Take Ella Wheeler Wilcox’s poem “I Love You”:
I love your lips when they’re wet with wine
And red with a wild desire;
I love your eyes when the love light lies
Lit with a passionate fire.
I love your arms when the warm white flesh
Touches mine in a fond embrace;
I love your hair when the strands enmesh
Your kisses against my face.
And Poet Robert Herrick wrote:
Give me a kiss, and to that kiss a score;
Then to that twenty, add a hundred more;
A thousand to that hundred; so kiss on,
To make that thousand up a million;
Treble that million, and when that is done,
Let’s kiss afresh, as when we first begun.
Alfred Lord Tennyson declared:
A man had given all other bliss,
And all his worldly worth for this,
To waste his whole heart in one kiss
Upon her perfect lips.
And my personal favorite is from Edmund Vance Cooke:
Kisses kept are wasted;
Love is to be tasted.
There are some you love, I know;
Be not loathe to tell them so.
Lips go dry and eyes grow wet
Waiting to be warmly met.
Keep them not in waiting yet;
Kisses kept are wasted.
There is, of course, the classic movie kiss. For instance, Scarlett and Rhett from Gone with the Wind or Ilsa and Rick from Casablanca. If you want some reminding, here’s a video to stir up the memories.
Of course, there have been plenty of famous Hollywood kisses since those times. Did you catch Lady & the Tramp kissing after a shared spaghetti noodle? Mary Jane planting a kiss on Spiderman as he hangs upside down? Leonardo di Caprio and Kate Winslet kissing on the prow of the Titanic? (If I must admit my own preferences, may I say that Casablanca, Spiderman, Sleeping Beauty, and absolutely any time Cary Grant kisses anyone in a film are my favorites.)
Let’s face it. We can get a little obsessed about kissing. Think about the trepidation that preceded your first kiss. How you felt in that moment of your first kiss with your spouse. Whether you pecked each other at the wedding or slurped each others’ faces to the near embarrassment of the wedding party and witnesses. The tender kisses that formed the prelude to your first night together.
Who doesn’t store up memories of their best kisses or long for the perfect, passionate kiss with their beloved?
But while we can get obsessed about kissing, sometimes after the I do’s we get complacent about kissing. I mean really, you have kissed this person a million different times in a million different ways. Is there anything left about their mouth to discover?
Well, today’s kissing lesson is brief one. It comes with homework! See if you can discover something about your kissing your spouse that you haven’t noticed in a while. Kiss him or her passionately for several seconds (10-15) and think about the physical sensations of kissing.
And then share what you’ve discovered.
Next week, come back for some tips about the different kinds of kisses and what they mean for you and your honey.
“Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—
for your love is more delightful than wine.”
Song of Solomon 1:2
Kiss Me
Kiss Me
This was good! I am up for the challenge! I will post my ‘findings’ tomorrow! lol
From Prevention magazine (8/2011):
Kissing is romantic, but that’s not why it gives your sex life a lift. Male saliva contains testosterone, and a lingering lip lock turns out to be a reliable delivery system. In both genders, smooching also floods the bloodstream with dopamine, which stimulates the same part of the brain as cocaine, for a natural high. And if you need yet another reason to plant one on your beloved, pucker up for heart health. Research shows that regular kissing reduces cholesterol in men and women alike.
Oh ladies, you haven’t seen a movie kiss until you’ve watched North and South (not about the civil war, but about victorian England!). It’s available on Netflix instant. Holy smokes, I will never see another kiss like that, ever again.
@Anon – Fascinating information. Forget the smart butter; let’s just kiss to reduce our cholesterol! Apparently, kissing is healthy.
Rachel – Okay, I had to go on YouTube and find this kiss. It’s beautiful. He melts into her lips, and they seem completely engaged in the moment. Thanks for the reference.
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