Some of us struggled to watch the young gymnast in Ireland be skipped over at a medal ceremony. It’s too easy to simply mark it as a racist incident.
Read MoreValentine's Day Needs a Rebrand
I was around fifteen when I first understood that Valentine’s Day was something people either love or hate. Before then, I thought of it as a sweet and charming time of year. Friends and family wish you a happy day and even those who are reluctant to embrace the occasion can’t resist expressing at least a small gesture of affection.
I have fond memories of waking up to Valentine’s Day cards from my Mom, accompanied with chewy sweet cinnamon hearts and maybe a shirt purchased from the clearance rack from my favourite store at the mall. In junior high, we would send each other candy grams that all had slightly different wording of how much we loved being friends with one another, back when love was a very simple concept.
Those who despise this day will often reference the pressure to spend money as their reason, but I never understood this claim. Being alive and human in a first-world country with a society that runs on a consumeristic agenda, is all about being pressured to buy on a continual loop. Let’s not pretend February 14 is the only time when we twist a milestone or occasion into irrelevance if gifting isn’t involved.
It also brings up loaded feelings, perhaps perceived inadequacies, around partnerships that either don’t exist or aren’t what we want them to be. I completely understand this. In fact, I could easily devote an entire post to just this. But I argue that these tumultuous emotions around romantic love and Valentine’s Day stems from how it’s marketed.
As I entered adulthood, the heart shaped everything got old very quickly and I naturally started to use the day to take an intentional pause. Valentine’s Day is now a time to quiet the noise and take inventory of the good in my life. I challenge myself to think of all the elements in my world that make me feel loved. I won’t pretend that I’m always thrilled reviewing the ledger of my life where it’s clear how many transactions are positive and negative. But it does feel like a needed cleanse that sets me on a positive path moving forward.
I’ll admit that marketing an annual, allusive, self-exploratory journey doesn’t strike the same thrill marker as performative displays of romance but I suppose this is the type of challenge that is consistently the inception of the great work we do. Let’s make it happen.