Valentines Day has recently passed.
As we move away from the fourteenth of February, we also move away from a tremendous amount of pressure.
Pressure? But Valentines Day is a time of celebrating love, passion, and intimacy. What kind of pressure could be involved when true love is at the center of the celebration?
Maybe, at some point you have asked yourself one or more of these questions.
What kind of gift should I purchase to make sure he knows the depths of my love for him?
What meal would she truly, truly, enjoy, that could show her how I feel?
What event could I organize, that would display the degrees of my passion for her?
What words could I say, that would make him understand how important he is to me?
What card says best how I love him?
What flowers are perfect enough that she will know the way she makes my heart swell?
What kind of post can I make on social media, that will reach the most people, so that she knows I’m not afraid to say to the world how I feel?
How can I top what I did last year, that he may know my feelings are sincere?
How much money should I spend, that she may know I will love her until the end?
Maybe you’ve asked none of these questions, but my guess is that somewhere along your timeline, you have pondered something like the above queries.
This is certainly not leading to a suggestion that displays of love and affection are superfluous. Rather, it is my firm belief that routine displays, day in and day out, lay the foundation for a palatial relationship built of consistent exhibitions of passion and emotion.
My contention is that the demand placed on those with significant others, to show their love to their person, does not stem from the state of heart. Not to mention, that this demand also creates a guilt and melancholy inducing exclusion of those that do not have someone specific towards whom to display their love, though it be an expression they may be intensely capable of producing.
The focus on the other person, recklessly ignores the most important part of being in love.
The best gift that you can possibly give to anyone that you care about, is to first love yourself.
Humbly yours,
J
Nice exploration of Valentine’s giving, J. Would’ve liked to have a more developed context for your conclusion. I don’t disagree with it, I’m just interested in how you arrived there.
The point was that there is an over abundance of focus on outward expression, and yet the basic step of ensuring that you first love yourself, before attempting to show another person that passion, is most often ignored, though it is the most crucial element towards being able to properly love another.