i'm cheating; this is an email i sent my friends
Every year, at least some of my girlfriends and I complain about Valentine's Day. We talk about its commercialization, how it sucks to be single on Single Awareness Day, how it sucks to be apart from a significant other... Yesterday, when I was out with my au pair friends, my complaint for this year was not getting to spend it with Rachel, like we have the last four years.
But today, which I spent almost completely alone, enjoying several hours at my favorite Starbucks in Paris with Great Expectations, and then coming home to write a letter, I thought about what Valentine's Day should mean, what it should be like. And I decided that, if we're living our lives the way we should be living them, Valentine's Day would be a day like any other, just with extra pink and candy. Valentine's Day shouldn't be the only day that we focus on love. It shouldn't be the only that we put others first, the only day that we make time for our significant others, our friends, our family. It shouldn't be the only day that we go out of our way to let people know that they are loved. We should be doing these things every day.
I hope that each of you has a great Valentine's Day. I hope you spend it with someone you love. I hope you receive nice cards or maybe even flowers. I hope someone says "I love you."
But I also hope that tomorrow you see someone you love. I hope that everyday you have the opportunity to say "I love you" and to hear it in return. Maybe I'm a little idealistic (let's be honest; I'm very idealistic!), but you also know I'm completely sincere in all of this.
But today, which I spent almost completely alone, enjoying several hours at my favorite Starbucks in Paris with Great Expectations, and then coming home to write a letter, I thought about what Valentine's Day should mean, what it should be like. And I decided that, if we're living our lives the way we should be living them, Valentine's Day would be a day like any other, just with extra pink and candy. Valentine's Day shouldn't be the only day that we focus on love. It shouldn't be the only that we put others first, the only day that we make time for our significant others, our friends, our family. It shouldn't be the only day that we go out of our way to let people know that they are loved. We should be doing these things every day.
I hope that each of you has a great Valentine's Day. I hope you spend it with someone you love. I hope you receive nice cards or maybe even flowers. I hope someone says "I love you."
But I also hope that tomorrow you see someone you love. I hope that everyday you have the opportunity to say "I love you" and to hear it in return. Maybe I'm a little idealistic (let's be honest; I'm very idealistic!), but you also know I'm completely sincere in all of this.