Once upon a time, I worked in a San Francisco flower shop. Valentine's Day was the biggest event of the year. It's like the Christmas season for most retailers, except that all the excitement is crammed into one day instead of six weeks. I can remember cleaning roses, dozen after dozen of them: stripping the stems of the thorns, plucking excessive leaves so the water wouldn't get clogged and prematurely cloudy, arranging, wrapping, delivering...you get the idea. My favorite part were the messages we transcribed on the little cards that come with the flowers. The content varied from romantic to sweet to funny to downright creepy. Sometimes two dozen went out to two different women, charged to a single credit card. Whatever. Not. My. Business. You could send flowers to your pet goat and I didn't care, long as I was making time and a half and your Visa went through.
So yes, Valentine's Day is overly commercial. Just like every other holiday in America. I admit, I've been a direct participant in the holiday profit-making machine. But it's still a wonderful day. Today couples will declare their affections for one another, maybe for the first time, maybe for the fiftieth. Boys and girls will receive those little valentines with Snoopy or Garfield or whatever the kids are into these days, and the first sparks of romantic attraction will ignite in their hearts. Even the status of having no valentine can be a holiday--a chance to go out with other, unattached hearts and celebrate one's freedom from the obstacle course of love. (Sometimes these are more fun anyway!)
I think it's fantastic that there is a day devoted to the expression of romantic love. Yes, this day is not without its pitfalls. I can remember the first Valentine's Day I celebrated with my now-husband. It was two weeks after our first date. Oh, the consternation! Do I get him something? Do I even acknowledge the day? Will he? What if he doesn't? The sweet agony of a newborn relationship. Makes me kind of miss those pins-and-needles days.
Whatever the day brings, I'm going to try to be my own valentine this year. I'm going to be sweet to myself in some small way. Make time for practice. Take myself out for Starbucks. Spend a few minutes just breathing in the cold, crisp February air. All day today, I plan to stop and appreciate this moment, today, now. It's too easy to get caught up in the daily grind, the endless cycle of chores and obligations. It's so easy to focus on what we want over what we have, what's not working versus what is. Sure, I'm as big as a house and spend most hours in some form of relative discomfort and crankiness. But still. I can breathe. I can move. I can take in the world around me and appreciate the little pleasures the day has to offer. I can even seek them out, and take a relatively routine Tuesday and elevate it to something really special. That is, if I can stop complaining for five minutes to really take a deep breath and see this moment for what it is. An opportunity for transformation.
And while I'm at it, I'll probably stuff my face with some Valentine's Day chocolate. To enhance the experience, of course.
Happy Valentine's Day!
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