Rather than
solely honoring lovers on Valentine’s Day (2/14), I encourage a celebration of ‘All
Hearts Day’; A day for those with life partners to celebrate their romance as
well as inclusion for those without in a manner which cherishes and loves them
as millions are on this marked holiday.
For singles—whether
widowed, divorced, or they just haven’t met the right life partner yet, it may
be easy to insulate against to the commercialism of Valentine’s Day with boxes
of chocolates, flowers, weekend getaways, and fine jewelry, by avoiding certain
aisles in the stores, or switching to another TV channel during the diamond
commercials. However, social media pierces at shattered hearts by the countless
posts in one’s newsfeed of how great your love is or requests to join a
conversation about how you met the love of your life. Much like Christmas
merchandise arriving in the stores before Labor Day, single people are blind-sighted
by your loving posts that pop into their news feed when least expected. Although
our hearts sing in joy for you; each post and conversation is a bittersweet
reminder of a love we no longer have—especially on February 14th.
Although my
last relationship ended several years ago, my intent of celebrating ‘All Hearts
Day’ extends well beyond my scope; rather, it is out of love for friends and
business associates who I am saddened for this year as I think and pray for their
comfort from the loss of their life partner. In recent discussion with one such
friend, we agreed it doesn’t matter if the relationship ended yesterday or
twenty years ago—the pain lasts long beyond the day when you lose your life
partner, soul mate, best friend, or anyone you deeply love.
So in honor
of love, I challenge you to expand your thinking of what Valentine’s Day means this
year to include a theme of ‘All Hearts Day’; a day to connect with at least one
person you respect, admire, or care for, who doesn’t have that ‘someone special’
in their life. Perhaps the message is as simple as a reminder of how you met
them, the last joke you shared, plans to meet again, or an emoji just to say ‘hey’.
Your purpose in that message is simply to share the greatest gift you can—your friendship
and love—if only for that moment in time.
I pray that you have a blessed and love-filled ‘All Hearts Day’ and that by reaching out you positively change a life forever!
