Many moons ago, as I was driving my son Darren to preschool and he was staring up at the sky, he said, “Look, Mom! When the cloud looks like a heart, we are going to have a heartly cloudy day!” From that day forward, I never heard the words partly cloudy day without thinking of heart-shaped clouds. Funny how a clever thought can change the way we view everyday experiences. 

Most of us think of Valentine’s Day as a time for romance and love, cupids and couples. But the truth about Valentine’s Day continues to be rewritten from the day of its dark conception in Rome. Back then, as NPR noted in “The Dark Origins of Valentine’s Day,” men would hit on women by literally hitting them. Sometimes we forget how far we have come.

As we continue to sweeten what Valentine’s Day means, we move our planet into a whole new realm of consciousness. What if it were not just about being coupled, but about self-love and becoming whole? What if it were not just about our significant others, but about love, compassion, and kindness for everyone, including ourselves? What if, instead of buying flowers and chocolate, you gave to the homeless, an elderly person or an animal shelter, together with your loved one? That could be just as romantic. What if we extended the holiday feeling of love and gratitude that we shared just two months ago?

Maybe if we decide that Valentine’s Day is about us all, not just us two, our loving-kindness will deepen our inner wellsprings of love for self and others. 

We wish you all a compassionate and kind holiday,