Rather than solely honoring lovers with Valentines Day gifts (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 life partners 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’, rather than just sending others Valentines day gifts, 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 Valentines Day gifts mean 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! And if you can’t think of good Valentine Day gifts, perhaps one of our books will fill their hearts with love.
