Last year, I compiled a list of eight things I learned on Valentine's Day (for a refresher, click the link). Most of those still hold true. But this year has been pretty exceptional in the love department, so I thought I'd spend a few minutes this time around focusing on that in particular. The quote above is one of my favorites. And while I get that it's referring to romantic love, I think it's pretty applicable to any type of the L-word. What disappoints me about the holiday is that there always seems to be a group of people focused on what they don't have. They don't have a boyfriend. Or flowers. Or candies. Or a dinner for two planned somewhere fabulous. I have always tried my best to never be one of those people. It's just such a waste when you're given an entire day on the calendar to really highlight however love has managed to touch and change your life.
I think the unfortunate part is that too many people focus on one type of love. That romantic, send-you-flowers-and-take-you-out-for-a-candle-lit-dinner-because-i-love-you kind of love. Which, hello, is awesome. But for me, the older I get, Valentine's Day becomes more and more about reflecting on how much love seems to be all around. Love that surrounds me every single day from my family, friends, kind strangers.
This year, this week, even, we are bracing ourselves for the loss of one of the most loved people I know. And to tell you the truth? It totally sucks. I've been thinking over and over about what it means to love someone like that. To have a person touch the lives of so many as to leave them irrevocably and absolutely changed. And it just seems silly to me to use Valentine's Day, especially this one, for anything other than celebrating just how unbelievably lucky we all have been.
The fact is: life really is full of mediocre things. And it's entirely too short a lot of the time. To settle for anything less than life-changing, inspiring, breaks-your-heart-to-say-goodbye kinds of love is just simply a waste of time.
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