It’s February and this is the month when everyone seems to talk about love. That’s mostly due to the fact that Valentine’s Day is on February 14th. Now I have a love-hate relationship with Valentine’s Day. One reason I hate it is because it’s a hallmark holiday all about making businesses money. Also, it seems that Valentine’s Day generates this idea that if you’re not in a relationship then you’re a loser, which is completely not true. But on the other hand, I also love it because it’s a holiday that celebrates love.
The issue it brings is a lot of people only treat their partner or themselves on Valentine’s Day. Love should not be a once a year occurrence because love is not that simple.
I believe that the society and culture we live in has given us misconceptions of love. We were raised on Disney movies and Nicholas Sparks books that gave us this fairytale filtered version of love. But love is not a fairytale, it’s amazing but it’s not all glitz and glamor. Let me start with telling you what love is: love is priceless, it is genuine, it is honest, its vulnerability, its pain, its sacrifice and most of all its not easy.
Love takes a lot of hard work. Being attracted to someone or liking someone is easy and anyone can do it, but loving someone is a completely different story. I like to compare love to a campfire.
All great relationships start with a strong base or structure because with just a spark you’re not going to get a fire. It burns strong in the beginning but you have to keep putting more wood on for it to continue to burn. You need to be persistent in showing love and affection to your partner to keep your love for each other burning. But in some cases, you can put too much wood on the fire and end up suffocating it.
Being in love involves a lot of ups and downs. I know that sounds cliché, but it’s true. If you’re in a relationship with someone it’s not going to be great all of the time.
You’re going to have arguments, fights and periods of boredom. However, love is about accepting someone completely for who they are flaws and all.
In most cases, that means you need to compromise or sacrifice something, which is never easy but necessary. It’s also about letting yourself be vulnerable and completely honest someone.
That’s when a genuine connection is created between two people. This doesn’t have to apply just to romantic relationships but also to relationships with friends or family members. Being genuine and having honest communication is key in any relationship.
