In every heart there is a room, a sanctuary safe and strong. - Billy Joel
February always remains the shortest month in the year regardless of the extra day tacked on to it every four years. Still coming in at only a record 29 days, for many, February can feel even longer than its snowy predecessor. It remains a month cloaked in reds and pinks, roses and chocolates, and anything that can be turned into the shape of a heart, will be. The month of Feb has slowly but surely become increasingly focused on romantic love and connections, can be a painful reminder to anyone and everyone who doesn’t have one. While Flower shops and 5-star restaurants are flooded with an excess of business on February 14th, it seems we’ve all forgotten about the necessary, platonic, powerful love that’s alive inside all of us. It’s likely the love we show a partner grew from a love we were taught from a parent, a friend, a teacher, a song on the radio, a piece of art, the list goes on. We seem to easily forget that Valentine’s Day at its core is the celebration of love.
This V-Day, regardless of your romantic status, take a moment to think about some of your first loves. A stuffed pig that wound up in your bed one night as a child, and somehow is still there at the age of 25, a twin sibling you share a bond with unlike any other, a blanket that has the power to lower your heart rate the moment you feel it in your fingers, a parent whose arms are still a heavily guarded safeplace. These first loves, often forgotten about, are looked at as unimportant, or irrelevant on Valentine’s Day, but the truth is, the organic love that’s rooted in these “firsts” should be celebrated regardless of our age or romantic status. The ability to love, to share a connection with something or someone outside of ourselves is a gift. This all being said, an even greater gift and often bigger challenge is acknowledging the love we have for ourselves. Loving oneself might be one of the hardest things human beings can accomplish. It’s a beautiful challenge that’s usually fighting against harsh judgement, and unrealistic expectations of ourselves that we’d never impose on anyone else. If we don’t get promoted at work fast enough, if we don’t see a certain number on the scale, or don’t have a significant other, we start to chip away at the self-love we all require to walk this world. This Valentine’s Day, remember the love and care you have inside for yourself, and give it some extra attention.
No one has ever said the gift of love and the purpose that comes from having a strong love in your life is only defined by the titles: “girlfriend,” “husband,” “wife,” “fiance,” etc. A lot of this isn’t our fault as the world makes it easier each year to put our blinders on when it comes to loving ourselves, our friends, families, and the things that bring us joy every day. The problem is, this makes it all too easy to miss the beauty there is in finding out what can happen if we start to love a little more.