Sometimes I want to take not-single people who reject valentines day by the shoulders, look at them with eye-lasers of sternness, and remind them how lucky they are. I think Valentine’s Day is GREAT even though I’ve never had an actual ‘valentine’.
And I’m stubborn about it.
Here’s why:
The Pink, the Hearts and the Flowers
They are wonderful so stop pretending they aren’t. It’s February. It’s freezing cold. It’s endless white and gray. A few paper heart garlands and fresh flowers make it feel just a little bit warmer. And if someone gave me a bunch of pink ranunculus (the flowers in the photo) - or even just one ranunculus of any color - on Valentine’s Day, my heart would explode and I would die.
The Music
Love songs are a human condition. We will write them and listen to them and love them and love to them until we are dust on the surface of a busted earth that can’t possibly support living life. The radio plays all the best ones all in a row on Valentine’s Day. It’s beautiful.
The Cards
Try not to be so cynical. Take this one chance on this one day of the year to tell your person that they are your person and you love their whole heart with your whole heart. It’s natural to get comfortable in your circumstances. We humans are adaptable - we even adapt to having a person to love. We forget to tell each other how lucky we feel. Your person probably only ever has a very shadowy and vague understanding of how you really feel about them - hoping you still love them and like them as much as ever - so tell them! Use Hallmark’s words if you can’t come up with your own. Whatever it takes.
All The Small Things
There are a lot of heart-shaped pancakes on my instagram feed this morning. People are doing nice little things for each other. It’s so good.
I thought about this as I walked four blocks in subzero temperatures to the closest coffee shop for my morning caffeine. I drink coffee every morning but I never make it myself. It’s just not a thing I do. But if a person was there! In my apartment! Making coffee for himself and then maybe bringing me a cup? If I weren’t already dead from the one ranunculus or the apocalypse, this would kill me. The more years I spend on my own, the more I will appreciate those little things a person might someday bring to my life.
Everything anyone does for you is a gift. That’s mostly what I’m rambling on about. And it is difficult to appreciate these things and these people every day but thankfully there’s this one precious reminder built into the calendar.
Try embracing it.
Or at least try to stop ruining it for me.