For this week’s edition of The Naked Truth, I decided to address the upcoming holiday on everyone’s mind, Valentine’s Day.
Ahh, love is in the air. This special day that comes once a year where we shower each other with roses, gifts, and greeting cards that say the words that we can’t quite articulate.
In an event-focused society that doesn’t even get the decorations down from one holiday before talking about the next, it’s not surprising that we would want to set aside one day out of the year just to say, “I love you.”
I’ve never really understood the logic behind it, though. Love is not like a birthday or anniversary where one celebrates the monumental occurrence and significance of the date. Love, in my opinion, doesn’t begin or end on any “one” day. Sure, there’s love at first sight, but even love at first sight grows and transforms into deeper emotions. And sure, there is the end of love, but as anyone who has ever ended a relationship will tell you, they didn’t just wake up one day and no longer feel emotions for one they no longer love … it’s called falling out of love for a reason.
So if this love business isn’t confined to a particular set of rules or timeframe, then why do we feel it necessary to wrap it up in a nice little box and only celebrate it one day out of the year? What I’m suggesting is this: Valentine’s Day should be 365 days a year. Call me a romantic, but the next time I fall in love, I certainly know that I will appreciate, honor, and celebrate it every single day.
Sure loving someone comes with ups and downs, disagreements and sometimes even betrayal, but it also comes with the responsibility of working on and nurturing that love every single day. We all get remiss and neglect or forget to prioritize the love in our life, but I’m asking you on this Valentine’s Day to recommit to spending the next year making every day of your love count.
Celebrate the complexity and beauty of LOVE as you begin your Valentine’s Day celebrations, and toast to every day thereafter. Here’s to your future and your love. May it only grow stronger.
About Angela Lutin:
Angela Lutin is Essentially Angela. Blogger, Advice Columnist and Dating Guru for the social media age—decoding modern love one tweet, text, and like at a time. Angela’s weekly dating advice column, The Naked Truth, appears exclusively in Boca Raton Magazine. Her work appears regularly on the Huffington Post, and she has been a guest contributor to Shape Magazine,GalTime.com, Think Magazine, Blindfold Magazine, and more. She can been seen on MTV’s Made and Bravo’s hit show, Millionaire Matchmaker in early 2013. Crafting personal dating makeovers for her clients, Angela also maintains a private practice, which turns the romantically challenged into the relationship-inclined. Follow Angela on Facebook,facebook.com/EssentiallyAngela or Twitter, @essentiallyang.
