mixed-up monday: bésame mucho
Last week, I was intrigued and haunted by BBC’s article about creativity and depression. So much so that it became the first thread in what I thought would evolve into this week’s theme — with Muse’s new song “Madness,” already loaded into the playlist, no shortage of quotes/ observations/ images and a new poem brewing, too.
Then, I pinned an image onto my “bésame” Pinterest board, and something shifted. Instead of splashing around in a pool of madness, I was lured into marveling about the power of a single kiss — the way it can ignite, transform, heal and inspire.
And those are just the ones that “land.” An imagined kiss can burn even more brilliantly in our minds, like the one in Sara Teasdale’s poem “The Look.”
Strephon kissed me in the spring,
Robin in the fall,
But Colin only looked at me
And never kissed at all.
Strephon’s kiss was lost in jest,
Robin’s lost in play,
But the kiss in Colin’s eyes
Haunts me night and day.
Maybe my creative madness musings just need more time to simmer before I can attempt to connect the dots. Or maybe sometimes everything we lug around with us as we travel through life needs to take a back seat to simple pleasures . . . like the magic of lips meeting along the way.
This week’s playlist, bésame mucho, was S.W.A.K. To tune in, click on the photo below.

bésame . . . like Robert Doisneau’s lovers who were tacked to every girl’s college dorm room wall circa 1987
Grace Potter & The Nocturnals – Goodbye Kiss
The Cure – The Kiss
Ed Sheeran – Kiss Me
Bruce Hornsby and the Range – Every Little Kiss
Parachute – Kiss Me Slowly
Ben Harper And The Innocent Criminals – Steal My Kisses
William Fitzsimmons – I Kissed A Girl
Thompson Square – Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not
Jessica Lea Mayfield – Kiss Me Again
Van Morrison – Give Me A Kiss
Scott Simontacchi – NYC Kiss
Morrissey – Let Me Kiss You
Bill Withers – Kissing My Love
U2 – Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
Prince & The Revolution – Kiss
Lita Ford – Kiss Me Deadly {How could I leave out this 80s gem from rockin’ Lita Ford?!}
More music? Click on the images below. . .