Valentines Day. Something that most people either love or hate, or just feel obligated to. I always loved it, the colors, heart shaped everything (but especially the heart shaped boxes of mystery-chocolates), the roses, the old fashioned over-the-top Victorian style cards. Candle light. My Mother was one of the lucky ones- she was always gifted with caramels, roses, dinner, romance- being unapologetically romantic was one of my Father's strengths. He enjoyed it- making the memory, the moment, sparkle.
I think that is why I like the holiday so much. The holiday itself, even in it's commercialized American way- perhaps *because* of it's commercialization- calls attention to love/romance on a grand scale. Yes, it can be looked at negatively as an excuse to sell candy and cards, to support the florist industry mid-winter, to make people miserable trying to live up to expectations and exotic lingerie. BUT, none the less, it keeps the ideal of romantic love alive. The possibility of love for the sake of love- without conditions or expectations or all tangled up with money and sex and the complications that come along with daily life. Love.
It's easy to say 'I love you'. We say it all the time- to each other, in reference to football or chocolate or shoes, we love objects and ideas and activities. I say it quite a bit, and I mean it when I say it- in all the different ways it is one of my favorite words, expressions. I don't think that cheapens it, or over uses it- it is for me a connection, a message of reassurance, of another persons importance in my world. Different levels, different degrees, but love is love-
Romantic love is a different aspect, and includes creating your own type of mythology about what love is, who the other person is, how to express it. It is~ the aesthetic of love. Love as an artform, crafted with care in music and words and taste and vision and scent and touch. Something to enchant all of the senses and create a world unto itself. A holiday for the heart.
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