Valentine's Day Inspiration & Ramblings

Be love. It's that simple. If you can, let go of wanting approval. Let go of wanting love. Give yourself some approval, give yourself some love. You may realize that this is enough. If you can let go of resisting who you are, and allow yourself to be, exactly as you are, you might feel tremendous relief. That is loving yourself. 
-Steve Ross, Happy Yoga

Honestly, I haven't been able to sort out my feelings about Valentine's Day over the years. 

It's very conflicted for me for a number of reasons; I think it's a made-up, Hallmark holiday that exploits us and encourages us to spend money on stupid red stuffed animals and chocolates, yet, I'm a hopeless romantic, so I also love the idea of a special day to tell those that you love how much you appreciate and care about them. 

Then again, if you're single it can be a tortuous day that makes you feel self-conscious, or like you have to go out with the girls or throw an "anti-Valentine's Day" party, and/or generally just feel bad about yourself. 

But then again, it can also be super-fun to throw a Valentine's Day get together, with pink champagne, heart-shaped treats, and sweet handmade cards for those you care about. See? I'm having a hard time with the holiday, and I always do.

This year, Ben and I have also been conflicted about the holiday as a couple. I teach two classes this evening and he goes to CrossFit, and usually on Tuesdays we don't rendez-vous at the apartment until around 9:15. And we're fine with this. 

Neither of us wants to force it and at first I just said, "Who cares? It's a fake holiday so lets not celebrate!" But then...the pressures of the fake holiday caught up to me and I thought, Are we really ignoring Valentine's Day? That's so unromantic! And herein lies the problem. 

So this is what I want to say today--don't let this day be a big deal, yet, it never hurts to tell your loved ones (family, friends, significant others, coworkers, etc.) how much they mean to you. 

Spreading love, sending love out into the world, and emanating love is never a bad thing, so why not use today as a reminder to do so? In fact, in Happy Yoga (my new yogic bible), Steve Ross talks about the "practice of loving," which I think is a great thing to do today (my non-yogi readers may roll their eyes at this, but I'm standing by it!!). He says:

You can also practice loving people you don't even know. Sometimes this is easier than practicing on actual friends and lovers, because intellect and the ego are not as likely to sneak in with desires and hidden agendas. In traffic, pick someone in a nearby car or focus on someone on the bus or train. See this person, accept this person, approve of this person. Know that this person is doing right in their own eyes and allow this person to be exactly as they are. And why not?...We're all the same, going through the same stuff. Everybody has a point of view with opinions attached to it. Instead of cursing people who don't agree with you, you can bless them with love and compassion as they are. 

Now that's a great way to celebrate Valentine's Day :) Oh, and practicing compassion towards yourself is also a great way to honor this day. Because honestly, we all know that if you can't love yourself, you can't really love someone else--not fully. 

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So to close, and to make things a bit more jumbled, I have to let the hopeless romantic side out for a moment, and share my FAVORITE romantic movie quote of all time, from When Harry Met Sally (also my favorite movie of all time). 

These are the words that Harry says to Sally at the very end of the movie, once he realizes that he love her:

I love that you get cold when it's 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle above your nose when you're looking at me like I'm nuts. I love that after I spend the day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. And I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And it's not because I'm lonely, and it's not because it's New Year's Eve. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible. 

And with that, I want to thank YOU for reading and tell you how much I appreciate you! Oh, and bah humbug (see, I still haven't figured it out...)?!?

Namaste and xoxo,
Mary Catherine

Image credits: [Top image, Card, When Harry Met Sally]

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