On the news today, I heard a word that made me laugh out loud. . . “sanguine.” I love collecting words and sentences, so this one popped right out at me. The word morphed into a blog idea. Therefore, with a big grin on my face, I grabbed one of my trusty spirals to quickly write down my thoughts before my brain cell spasms quit spazzing!

Any of you who know me know for sure that sanguine is exactly who I am. That word has been used as a poisoned, sarcastic dart aimed at wounding me, and as an endearing, altruistic hug directed at complimenting me.

Merriam-Webster defines sanguine as “confidently optimistic” as well as “blood-thirsty.” In other words, depending on the context, it has both positive and negative connotations. Basically, sanguine, as a personality trait, is a synonym of passion. What does sanguine look like?

When I love, I love fiercely. When I support a cause, I become a crusader. When I disagree, I do so vociferously and thoroughly with plenty of back-up research. I shed tears unabashedly. I laugh uproariously.

What do all these descriptive sentences have to do with September 2019? My husband and I are celebrating our 18th anniversary this week, and I’ve been searching for the apt words to express the “sanguine” celebration of our love for each other. This word-find reminded me of the passage I wrote in my book, Tell the Truth About Adultery, in the chapter entitled Hope. I was conveying what I hoped for in a partner way before I had re-met my husband as an adult. For you see, we had known each other as playground buddies way back when!

I wrote, “I would like the luxury of the company of one who can understand me, whose eyes can reply to mine. I want someone with me, a gentle yet courageous companion, possessed of a cultivated as well as capricious mind, giving and kind, and loving me for who I am, not with an agenda of how I can be altered to fit his needs. I have a love for the spiritual. I need a companion who matches or exceeds my ardor! I have a love for the marvelous, which hurries me out of the common pathways, even into the scary unknown, the ambiguous regions of the future. Is this too much to ask?”

My sanguine self is grateful to announce from the rooftops that my hoped-for musings were matched and more!

What word best describes your core?