I have a friend that thinks Valentine’s Day is a made up Hallmark holiday. He thinks it benefits the florists, jewelers and other such stores. According to him, Valentine’s Day makes people without romantic partners feel lonely. It puts pressure on husbands, boyfriends and lovers to be romantic, buy flowers, give gifts and profess their love.

I agree, it is a made up holiday. It does financially benefit many businesses and I LOVE it! Personally, I think men need a little pressure. They need a shove and a push to pull out all the stops. Before your protest, I will say that there are a few men who know how to make us feel loved. They know how to whisper sweet nothings and bring home flowers periodically but you have to admit that they are a minority.

As for the lonely people, I don’t believe that we are ever lonely if we just focus on all the people who love us. In high school, my best friend and I sent each other flowers, and gave one another a card that spelled out how much we meant to one another. We didn’t need romantic partners to celebrate Valentine’s Day. We celebrated our great friendship, our sisterhood!

I see Valentine’s Day as just another excuse to be my mushy self. I enjoy getting flowers and presents and beautiful cards with meaningful words. I also enjoy giving to my loved ones and expressing my love.

This Valentine my eight year-old daughter and I bought beautiful heart-shaped cookies from whole foods for her little classmates.

Along with all the sugar we wanted to put a little more love in their goody bags, so we did. We decided to create little compliment notes. They have positive sayings such as “You Rock”, “You can do anything”, “You are kind” and then at the bottom we wrote “Pay it forward”. The purpose of the note was to make the children feel good about themselves and inspire them to say kind words to others. We wanted to highlight their wonderful qualities. We wanted them to believe in their goodness. We wanted to show love. That’s what Valentine’s Day is all about. I  spent most of Valentine’s day with a lovely friend whose child got a split lip in a fall. She needed me to take her to the hospital.

Aside from having a lovely dinner with my husband and child she was the highlight of my day. Spending time with my family and a friend who needed me was the best way to spend Valentine’s Day.

I love this “made up” Hallmark holiday and how it inspires people to show love…even if it’s not so comfortable for them. I don’t particularly want to focus on its history, although it is interesting. That’s another blog.

It’s all in the way you look at things. I’m feeling pretty happy and thankful for my Valentine’s day. I have so much love around me! I hope you do too!