Here it is February. February is one of those months that many either love or hate. Much of this is because of Valentine’s Day.
We are told over and over what this holiday should mean to us. You see the message everywhere you turn, store fronts, commercials and special advertisements are everywhere. If you are like most…you get the message!
BUT….are we really getting the message? Over the years I have come to realize that I have a very unique relationship with Valentine’s Day. I look at this day as a day to really appreciate the people in my life, not just those of the opposite sex. I find excitement in sharing my love, my appreciation, my excitement with others.
I smile as I remember those days in elementary school when we would make our Valentine’s Day boxes in class. We would all bring in a shoe, tissue box, and empty canister of oatmeal, whatever you could find to create a beautiful magical mail box of sorts. Then we would make a valentine out for everyone in your class. This was not always an easy task for many of us in class. Valentines cost money and money was not always readily available. But…it didn’t matter, you learned to get creative. We made time to really think and say something nice about or to every person in your class. What an amazing shift in energy…you know…to have a collective group of people/children thinking positively about one another. The first part of the month held an enormous amount of love. Even as I got older and got into high school, we had Flower Grams. I loved sending flowers to friends, secret admirers… It always held a sense of magic for me.
Yes, there always seemed to be a sense of hope that, that someone special you had a crush on would send you a flower or card. And it was inevitable with all that love in the air for hearts to not get crushed…or something like that to happen. Disappointments happened…But it wasn’t what defined the holiday for me.
Now…fast forward 20-30 years… the only focus on Valentine’s Day seems to be on the romantic side of it. When did we all lose sight of the greater picture? When did the day of love discriminate against all other forms of love? I have nothing against romantic love…NOTHING AT ALL… I am such a romantic! But I do have an issue with alienating all the other kinds of love. Some are thinking we don’t alienate the other kind of love…I am glad that you are not experiencing it! Unfortunately, many do, they do so much so that they create “anti” Valentine’s Day cards as well as parties.
Anti Valentine’s Day is like….Anti- love??? I know some of these people and I know they are not anti love. What they are protesting is a stigma that they feel is attached to not being in a committed romantic relationship. They are made to feel inadequate and lonely. Which I think is pretty crappy. Especially since I think focusing on the “romantic” aspect of the holiday is really silly. Shouldn’t we be celebrating our “romantic” relationships in one way or other every day? We should be communicating our love and appreciation throughout the year…not once a year. I actually feel this way about a lot of holidays…but that is a different blog!
I realize now, as an adult, that I was given a beautiful gift (without the recipient even knowing they were giving me it) when I was very young. My Grandfather used to come and visit me every Valentine’s day, or…so I thought he was visiting me. Come to realize/find out years after he had passed that he was actually visiting my Mom. He had assigned specific holidays to his children, so not only did my Mother get to have her special holiday, so did I. What his presence did was make me feel special for being me. It was this gift of self appreciation, it taught me to love who I was and to not need (especially on that specific day) the validation of some kind of romantic love. Now my Grandfather died when I was ten years old, so this did not get to go on for many, many years. It did however go on long enough for me to equate love on Valentine’s Day to mean something different.
Not all of us have been so lucky to have experiences like these to fall back on, and I am sure this experience is not the only thing that has shaped my views on Valentine’s Day. Learning to love and appreciate who we are and where we are is an important first step!
I know I have not always been “fully” awakened to my psychic self… but as I have gone through the process of awakening I can see things from a higher state. This higher state is all about LOVE. The thing I keep learning along my journey is that we eventually have to stop looking to others or seeking acceptance. To truly make any kind of progress forward sustainable we need to accept ourselves, accept that we are good enough, that we do not need a relationship, a new car, a new house or fancy clothes to define us or make us feel loved. Eventually if that is all we focus on or measure love against…well those things will leave us feeling empty and insecure. We need to celebrate the love of self and others that are in our lives!
To honor Valentine’s Day this month…
- Create your very own love / appreciation jar or Valentine’s Day box!
- Decorate it as much or as little as you would like.
- Place it in a prominent location (somewhere you will see it).
- Drop notes in it. Each day drop a Valentine in your Valentine’s Day box.
- Send a Valentine to people in your life. Everyone loves to be thought of.
- On Valentine’s Day open your box…and read the notes you left for yourself out loud.
- Now…simply smile…and absorb the energy.
This is a simple reminder that you are a beautiful and wonderful being, just the way you are. Be the change you want to see in the world, including the change that needs to happen on Valentine’s Day. Appreciate those around you that you normally don’t take the time to acknowledge or appreciate.
Happy early Valentine’s Day, to each and every one of you!
Namaste~