L-O-V-E
Happy Valentine's Day! Are you Ebenezer Scrooge or the Easter Bunny when it comes to doling out affection this day?
I know for sure that in the final analysis of our lives - when the to-do lists are no more, when the frenzy is finished, when our e-mail boxes are empty - the only thing that will have any lasting value is whether we've loved others and whether they've loved us. -- Oprah Winfrey
I know a lot of people consider Valentine's Day a "Hallmark holiday" --- one that has been overcommercialized and forced and stuffed down our throats. They say it's only a holiday because the media and retailers say it's so.
But I say, what's so bad about a holiday that celebrates love? What's so bad about expressing how you really feel to the people that you care about? OK OK so maybe we don't need all that chocolate and we certainly don't need to rack up credit card debt to impress people with material s-t-u-f-f but seriously folks... taking time out to
- write words of endearment to your sweetheart in a card or letter
- actually go out on a date (a candelight picnic in your living room can actually be more romantic than a big night out on the town!)
- spend time with friends and family laughing and celebrating love and life
- treat yourself to a bubble bath or anything else that makes you feel good about yourself
...well, I think these things are wonderful!
Valentine's Day reminds us to be more mindful and conscious of expressing our love. If more people said "I love you" every day to their partners, their parents, their children, their friends I think the world would be a better place.
One of my happy memories of childhood is getting ready for bed and going to each parent, hugging and kissing them and saying "I love you" and hearing it in return. Now in my marriage, we go through a similar ritual every night. There is peace and comfort in hearing that you are loved and in expressing it to another. Some people say that "the L word" is overused, but I never tire of hearing it - or saying it.
I love you dear readers, dear friends, dear family! Happy Valentine's Day!
Valentine's Day
Any holiday in America can be diluted by the commercialism. But read some love poems and recapture the feeling that you want to have and create with your mate. And DO IT! My fiancee and I went out to dinner at a local restaurant, met people we knew, met some new people while waiting for our seating outside the restaurant on a nice cool evening. We were all there celebrating St. Valentine's Day, and we ended up sharing with each other as well as with who we came with. My mate and I exchanged gifts, we each brought our gift bags into the restaurant and opened cards and gifts and surprised each other. And, I have to mention, the owner of the restaurant is a kick and made it even more fun. One of the gifts is a
You Owe Mecoupon book where each of us can present the other with a coupon to do something we'd like from each other - from a massage to a weekend away to a day in the outdoors. NICE! That's my take on this Valentine's Day ... that it really was a day to do something with my loved one. And I called my sister, brother and mother too!