What if we embraced the idea that love is for everyone, everywhere, in all its forms?
Valentine’s Day has long been synonymous with romance—candlelit dinners, red roses, and grand gestures. But love extends far beyond a single day of devotion to a partner. It always has been.
Love shapes us in ways we don’t always see. It’s in the way we reach for someone’s hand without thinking, in the way we laugh until we forget what was funny in the first place. It is not just romance.
Yet, year after year, Feb. 14 comes around with a singular focus: romantic love. Those who find themselves outside of that narrative—whether single, healing, or simply uninterested—often feel as though they are on the outside looking in. But the truth is, love has never belonged to just one kind of relationship.
What if we allowed Valentine’s Day to reflect that? What if we embraced the idea that it is for everyone, everywhere, in all its forms?
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Love in all its forms
Familial: The first love
The first love we ever know. It is the lullaby hummed in the dark, the steady voice on the other end of the line. It is the comforting smell of home, the lessons passed down through generations, and the way a mother instinctively reaches for her child’s hand. Family love is the foundation that reminds us where we came from.
Sometimes, family love is complicated, tangled in history and expectations. But at its core, it is built on care—on the simple, undeniable fact that we are bound to one another, not just by blood but also by memory, shared experience, and the way our lives intertwine. Whether by birth or by choice, and whether we like them or not, family love teaches us our first lessons in belonging.
Friendship: Love without expectation
A love that does not demand but simply exists, friendship is the ease of being seen and the comfort of showing up as yourself with no need for pretense. It is laughter that echoes long after the moment has passed, a history written in shared glances, eyebrow raises, and quiet understanding.
I have come to accept that true friendship is a rare feat. It is built over time, through inside jokes and late-night conversations, through moments of celebration and seasons of grief. Friends remind us who we are. They reflect back our best selves and they stay even when we are at our worst. This is not about grand declarations or dramatic gestures—it is found in the steadiness of someone simply being there.
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Self: The most intimate of relationships
To love oneself is to be patient with your own becoming. To look in the mirror and soften, to rest when you need it, to know you are worthy—not because of what you do but because you are. Self-love is the love that allows all others to flourish.
But self-love is not always easy. It is a practice and a choice we make every day. It is learning to silence the voice that says you are not enough. It is allowing yourself joy, even when you feel you haven’t earned it. It is giving yourself grace, tending to yourself the way you would tend to someone you love.
Infusing love into daily life
Love does not need grand declarations. It is found in the smallest of moments—a warm cup of coffee left on the counter, a text that says ‘Did you get home safely?’, the way the sun finds your face on a slow morning. It is in the noticing, the being, the acts that ask for nothing in return. It is the simple, steady presence of showing up.
Incorporating love into daily life does not require effort so much as awareness. It means paying attention—to the people around us, to ourselves, to the ways we can make the world a little softer. It means practicing gratitude, reaching out even when it feels awkward, giving kindness freely, and expecting nothing in return. Love is in the details, in the pauses, in the in-between moments.
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Expanding Valentine’s Day to include all love
I often wonder, what if Valentine’s Day wasn’t just for lovers? What if it was a day to celebrate love in all its shapes—to call a friend just to hear their voice, to sit with yourself and feel at home, to hug your mother a little tighter? What if it was about more than grand gestures but instead about presence—about truly seeing and valuing the love that already exists in our lives?
Some cultures already celebrate love in broader ways. In Finland, for instance, Valentine’s Day is called Ystävänpäivä—Friend’s Day. It is not just about romantic love but also about celebrating friendships, connections, and the people who make life meaningful. There is something beautiful in that, something worth adopting.
Love is too big, too infinite, to be contained in a single kind of relationship. It is meant to be given, received, and passed on. It is meant to be a constant, not an exception.
Love as a way of living
To love is to live and to live fully is to recognize love in its every form. It is the great miracle of being alive—that we can feel, that we can give, that we can receive. It is not scarce but abundant. It is not meant to be hoarded but shared. It is not reserved for one day—it is meant to be lived, every day, in every moment.
So let us not wait for the perfect moment, the perfect person, the perfect time. Love is already here in front of you—within you. And how lucky are we to have it?
