I was all set to write a special post just for today – Valentine’s Day – and then I got some Chinese (-like) food to-go. With a fortune cookie. Which said:
Walk carefully in the beginning of love.
Or, in French, from the other side:
Au début d’une relation amoureuse, allez-y prudemment.
I think I’ll file that away for future reference. Perhaps far future reference.
But back to my thesis: Valentine’s Day is lovely in theory, but, in practice, perhaps not so much.
Now I have to admit, it seemed somehow a little more understated this year. Or perhaps less over-stated. Maybe it’s because the winter olympics are on, and everyone is watching mixed doubles curling and wondering if the teammates are lifemates, or just teammates. And wondering just what the hell “hurry hard” means on the rink with a broom.
There’s the (perhaps unintended) implication that if you don’t have someone special to spend Valentine’s Day with, well, then, perhaps you’re just not that special yourself.
Though I wonder how orphans feel on Mother’s Day.
I’ve long known that having someone special in your life is one of the best things that can happen to a person in this world. And of course I’ve also known that there are so many people that don’t have someone special.
So there’s nothing special about me.
Which is what Valentine’s Day seems to remind me of.
Celebrating love, and the special people in your life, and caring and sharing, and telling people how much they mean to you (when they mean something good to you I mean) – all wonderful things.
Except some times when you want to do that, but feel like there’s no one for you to tell.
Good in theory, but maybe not so much in practice.
Jaded, tired, lonely? Nahhhh ….