WHY YOU SHOULDN’T CELEBRATE VALENTINE’S DAY

 
 
 

Happy Valentine’s Day! Yeah, it just went by, but to think of it, should there be just one day to celebrate love? Any day can be a day for love, so why not today as well?

A couple of years ago, we had shared a blog on the need to shower love on ourselves. D’you wonder if there’s a dramatic shift from what we said earlier?  Well, let’s find out.

We live in a selective society. There aren’t many occasions which can be celebrated by everyone. Take Valentine’s Day for instance. The day is reserved for those who have a romantic relationship. Duh!

The “Day of Love” prompts many of us to send messages of love to that special person in our lives. While Valentine’s Day is merely an arbitrary day that we use as a light-hearted way to express our feelings to our respective partner, it is also true that the day sustains the myth that it’s limited to the special one and is limited to a special day only.

Many people who find themselves alone on Valentine’s Day, struggle with past hurts, grief, and feelings of inadequacy. While they are bombarded with images of happy couples on social media, it is important that they remember that their identity is not defined by their relationship status. A person’s worth comes from who they are, not who they are with. 

So, how about a change in perspective? What if we were to adopt the idea that Valentine’s Day is not just for couples on a particular day, but for everybody, every day?

Valentine’s Day should not be a day to celebrate love, it should be a reminder to celebrate love all our lives and love of all kinds. It should be a reminder to focus on what you have, rather than on what you feel you’re missing. Family love, sibling love, parent/child love, friendship love, self-love, and just simple acts of kindness to people we might not even know.


 
 

Showing kindness is often an easy and quick thing you can do to emit love as you move through your daily life.

Team Silhouette believes that engaging in L.O.V.E. can really help you with your ability to be kind to yourself and to feel more connected to those around you. But hang on, our love stands for something different:

LISTEN –

Active listening is one of the most authentic ways to show people around you that you care. You must have said to yourself at some point in your life, “I just want to feel heard.” Well, offer that experience to a loved one. Feeling heard and understood increases trust and there is no love without trust.

And while you start actively listening to others, listen to your body, too. Give yourself a break whenever you need it. This is a simple but often challenging way to show yourself some love.

OPTIMIZE –

Pay attention to HOW you are spending your time with your near and dear ones. Quality over quantity. Be intentional with your plans to ensure you are getting the most out of your time together.

While at it, being intentional with your ‘me-time’ is equally as important, especially because ‘me-time’ is often so limited.

VULNERABILITY –

You know, the Japanese believe that every person wears three masks – on the outside is the one you show to the world, the middle one is reserved for your friends and family, and the innermost one reflects your true face which you don’t show to anyone. So many of us pretend to be what we are not. Mostly, that is because of the fear that we may not be loved or accepted for who we really are.

Vulnerability allows these lines to go blur and creates more unison for us. It allows you to be who you are. The fewer masks you have, the more vulnerable you allow yourself to be. And the more vulnerable you become, the more trust you earn.

EXPLORE – 

Explore something new and different from those you care about. Exploring new things offers you and your loved ones something to share and enjoy together. It keeps things interesting and allows for new memories to be created.

In addition to that, also explore your own urges. We often suppress our urges or quickly shut them down because they feel impulsive. Appreciate that those urges come from somewhere and explore them before simply writing them off.

So let’s celebrate the relationship we have with ourselves and those around us, not just on the 14th of Feb but every single day.

With this new and, hopefully, interesting take on love, we hope that you emit love with your kindness, empathy, and compassion without limiting it to Valentine’s Day only. And while you are at it, keep showering your love on us, too.