I received a Whatsapp message from my parish priest this afternoon (it’s a long story) which made me think.
He said that “with true love, every day is Valentines day”. When I thought about it, it’s so very true.
We are conditioned to hype ourselves up to this one day each year, we buy cards with soppy messages or puns on the front, we buy single red roses for the price of a decent bouquet of flowers, spend a fortune on gifts, and don’t even think about an impromptu dinner out unless you booked three weeks ago.
While this is a nice way to focus our love and emotions and give an opportunity to make a ‘grand gesture’, maybe it’s overrated and our need to participate in this yearly ‘tradition’ is to the detriment of our partners and ourselves feeling the love all year round.
Whether you have someone you’d classify as your Valentine, you’d spend it with your Galentines or simply on your own – why can’t we share this love all year round?
Again, it’s a very instagrammable holiday isn’t it? Between the helium balloons and rose petals strewn on perfectly made beds, and the showing off of picture-perfect couples out for a steak dinner – it feels a bit overdone for me now.
This year we’ve gone back to a simple card at the most, because I think we should be showing each other every day that we love each other and we’re there for each other.
But at the same time, if you still see Valentines Day as something you feel passionately about – that’s fine too! I’ll still like your feed posts on Instagram and send a heart-react to your stories; but for me this my sign to dedicate so much more love all year round. Not only to my husband, but to me.