I love Valentine’s Day.  I always have.  No matter if I’ve been single, coupled, surrounded by friends, family, or alone, I love the idea of having a day where being affectionate, cheesy, full of gratitude and love is totally acceptable!  I walk around much of my life like this, and therefore I’m considered a weirdo.  But on Valentine’s Day, this behavior is accepted and even encouraged!  One of my favorite love songs of all time is the 90’s classic from the Aquabats “Lovers of Loving Love” because that title describes me so aptly, I literally have it in my personal Instagram bio.  I am a lover of loving love!

I know there are a lot of haters out there, and I totally understand the complaints.  I don’t love anything promoting thoughtless consumerism, but Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be about gift giving, at least not in the traditional way of purchasing something at a store and giving it to someone.  You can give loved ones the gifts of your time and attention, words of gratitude, an act of service, or anything that says love to you that isn’t a box of chocolates.  Don’t follow the prewritten script that big business has given you to follow.  Be thoughtful and take this opportunity to express love and receive love in your own special way.

The other major complaint that I hear about Valentine’s Day is that people don’t like the idea of an outside force telling them when to express and celebrate their love.  People of earth, let me tell you, you are free and encouraged to express love every single day of your life!  Please, for the love of love, do not save it all up for this one day!  But what is wrong with a little encouragement one day of the year, to remind you to set some time and energy aside to focus on love?  It’s hard to imagine there is not a net gain by there being one day a year where we are all encouraged to open up about love.

Ultimately, my message is, you can love your own way! *Cue singing this in ode of Fleetwood Mac’s “Go your own way.” And this Valentine’s Day, I am doing something terrifying.  I am publicly sharing love in a way I never thought I would.  I am opening my heart and mouth on my new podcast, Occasionally Interesting.  On this podcast, you’ll get to know the inner workings of the minds and hearts of me and my main squeeze.  We talk to each other about all of the things we wonder about, and we also interview people we meet along this journey in life, as well as experts in their fields.  We are scared to be this open and vulnerable with the world, but also so excited and full of love.  We believe that the world could always use some more love, openness, and vulnerability – so we are putting our podcast where are hearts are, out there in the world with all of you.  Check us out at www.occasionallyinteresting.com and wherever podcasts are found.

Happy Valentine’s Day!