Valentine's Day
Every year when Valentine's Day rolls around, I always think I'll have this cute story to tell of how I met my significant other from the year before and will include some sappy story for the Instagram post...Yada, yada, yada.
You know, a meet cute, like something out of a Nora Ephron movie, including one of the following:
We just casually bump into one another at a coffee shop. Me being the semi-klutz that I am spills sugar or drops a stack of napkins on the floor and he tries to jump in and help clean up whatever disaster I've created.
I meet him at a random place in LA, and it turns out he's a traveling musician and we have to make a go of the long distance thing.
Or he just happens to be Chris Pratt and we've had to keep the relationship, because as everyone knows, you can't just yell from the rooftops who you're dating, when you're a celebrity.
But, alas, another Valentine's Day has come and gone and I have no such thing to tell you.
I am a girl who loves all of the holidays. I love celebrating just about any occasion and having a reason to get together. I love Valentine's Day. A reason to celebrate with pals and family? I'm so there. The cards. The heart decorations. The themed candy. A reason for confetti. Red and pink everything. Life is basically a Starburst.
But, this year, I just didn't feel it. I didn't want the hearts. I didn't want to dress up. I forgot my cards I'd bought and I didn't get anything for our work potluck. Because I just didn't want to celebrate Valentine's Day. I wore pink and red, but I really didn't want to. My friends invited me over to their get together, but I woke up with a slight headache and it was a long day at work. And I didn't want to go with my parents, because who wants to be the 26-year-old who tags along with her parents for dinner?
...Well, ultimately, I did. And you know what? It was fun. I always have fun with them. We went to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants in town, which was decked with red and white balloons, and other Valentine decor as you walked through the entryway. We talked about the day, we laughed and said ridiculous things.
I hate feeling like I have to have plans for the holiday. That's what it comes down to.
So, here's the thing. Sometimes you don't feel like loving. But, love is an action. It is a choice. You CHOOSE to love that person or the people around you, day after day, whether they're driving you crazy or when you're not agreeing on the same thing or a plethora of other items that can make any relationship difficult.
Because when I look around at my life: my family, my best friends (the ones who REALLY know me and get me), my coworkers turned family and my church family, I'm extremely blessed. So I didn't have a date for the dance (I'm just kidding, there was no dance)...But each and every day, I'm surrounded by people who have dropped what they're doing to pick up my call, supported me in whatever endeavor I've ventured into or crazy idea I've had, they've given me hugs when I'm at the end of my rope and they've celebrated with me. THAT is love.
Life looks different to everyone. Everyone has different occasions and ways of celebrating. That's okay. That's good. So, some might celebrate with their gal pals, others with their kids or siblings, or like me, with their parents some years. It's okay. I guess that's the beautiful thing about Valentine's Day... There are all kinds of different love, and you don't have to celebrate the same way every year.
Taylor Swift once said, "You can have love all around you without being love," and that's the best way I can think to describe Valentine's Day. I'm not in love, I've never been in love. But, I have a deep, mad love for my friends and family. And at the end of the day? That's all I need.
~Shelby