A perfection, a symmetry like Grecian art.

In honor of finishing a reread of one of my favorite books, this picture is of my favorite Scarlett O'Hara tree ornament that Christine gave me for Christmas probably four years ago. Ironically, it's never been hung on a tree, but these past two years I have had it hanging on the underside of my lofted bed at school.

Gone with the Wind is so dear to my heart. Like the pre-Civil-War lifestyle illustrated at the start and like this Christmas ornament, this story has "a glamor to it--a perfection, a symmetry like Grecian art." This book is thought-provoking with so many lessons to be learned, and it has a tragic ending that's in following with the result of putting so many characters with extreme personalities into one story.

I was sitting on the train from work, reading the final chapter with tears running down my face (because no matter how many times I read it, the ending can always make me cry), and I was again struck by the beauty of this story and how moving Margaret Mitchell's writing is.

I'm a hopeless romantic, which to me means that I'm an idealist when it comes to love. That may seem contradictory to loving Gone with the Wind, but reading about a tragic love makes me appreciate the love in my life even more. This feeling is best illustrated in the words of Ames Brown...
It's the best when the ordinary is extraordinary, I think. There's this Italian Renaissance way of being romantic: they call it 'sprezzatura'. It is where you try to be as romantic as possible - but through your ordinary life. There's so much more magic in the ordinary. Life isn't all fireworks. Romantic things come from inside you.