Valentine’s Day, February 14th, is a celebration of lovers. But, if we go beyond the commercialization of this day, with red roses, fancy dinners and pajama-grams, we can see a deeper, more significant meaning to this day.
Valentine was a bishop who married Romans in secret, celebrating their love for one another, at a time when marriage was forbidden by law. When arrested by the same Roman emperor who had forbidden marriages because he believed they did not allowed men to be valiant soldiers, he chose to die rather than change his views on love. In addition, while in jail he fell in love with his jailer’s daughter and, just before his execution, sent her a “Valentine Note.”
The message we derive from these historical events is: love counts, love needs to be acknowledged, cherished and celebrated. Two thousand years later, we are still acknowledging this day and the person who started it, because we still believes that love counts and is worth celebrating.
What does this day mean to you?
I hope not only another time to buy a gift and make reservations to a nice restaurant, and nothing more.
I encourage you to go beyond these formalities, and think of ways in which you want to let your loved one know how much he or she means to you.
Valentine’s Day is, in fact, a day of acknowledgment and appreciation. We often don’t let people we love know how much we appreciate who they are, what they do for us, how they make our lives better and richer and how grateful we are for who they are. We may take them for granted, caught as we are in our frenetic lives and daily demands. But, if we don’t tell them our feelings, how will they know that we have them? Particularly if we are in a long term relationship, we may believe Valentine’s Day is only for new lovers, not for people like us. Wrong! Valentine’s Day is for all people who love, and this accounts for a very large part of the human population.
Can you think of meaningful ways of expressing your love feelings? However, you are going to do it – with flowers, a card, a gift, an evening together – remember that what is most important is being close. Hold your Valentine’s hand, sit closer to him or her than you usually do, remember what are the things he or she appreciates and provide them as a sign of your love. Above all, whatever you do, make sure it is special, out of the ordinary, because these special events create memories that make up our love histories together and will be cherished for many years to come. After all, what is our life if not a series of memories that give us the sense of who we are and who our loved ones are?
Don’t wait until the last minute to rush to buy a card, or to pick a bunch of flowers among the ones left over. Put some time and thought in it, it will show.
This is also a time when some couples choose to make important decisions about their lives together. Some men propose on Valentine’s Day; some couples marry. To all of them we wish they will be able to maintain these feelings for one another throughout their lives together. To those and all love couples who celebrate this day, we wish a celebration that takes heir love relationship to a higher level of closeness and intimacy.
HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!
