Two for Tuesday, brainchild of Kate Hart, is when you post about two things and try to connect them. Maybe it’s because I spent a good number of hours this weekend writing two scenes in which two of my characters put their hearts on the line, but I thought I’d post about two of my favorite works where characters are putting their hearts completely out there with little guarantee that their feelings will be returned.

One of my favorite music videos (and one not nearly enough people have seen) is “Another Chance” by Roger Sanchez. There’s something heartbreaking and a little uplifting at the sight of this small woman carrying her huge heart around the city. The more people refuse to talk to her, the more they treat her with indifference or suspicion, the smaller her heart gets. It shrinks until it’s easy to carry around, until it’s not the first thing people notice about her. But all it takes is a little hope and she’s out there the next night, heart just as big as it was before.

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason is high on my list of most re-read books. It manages to be funny and sweet and a little heartbreaking–frequently all at the same time. One of my favorite scenes (and one that I read three or four times each time I get to it) is the scene where Bridget finally admits to Mark how she really feels. It’s not a glamorous setting (a dark hallway in the middle of the night), there isn’t any music playing (just Mark’s frightened scream when he bumps into Bridget and doesn’t immediately realize who she is–it’s very late and he’s half-asleep, after all), and Bridget is basically admitting all the things her self-help books tell her never to admit to. It’s kind of perfect.

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