10 Posts on Everyday Love From a V-Day Hater

Today, my boyfriend and I will exchange cards in honor of Female Love Reassurance and Gift Exchange Day and then call it good. Both of us view February 14th as a grossly over-commercialized holiday, yet we both appreciate a good card. At some point today, my sweetheart will open a little miracle card that reads, “I will forever save all the gross chocolates for you.” He will almost certainly hand me a glitter-free card with an adorable puppy plastered on its front. We will chuckle cheekily and then go about with our normal evening routine. For us, Valentine’s Day is no different than any other day of the year.

Love isn’t meant to be bottled up for release one day out of the year. We don’t need to reserve thoughtful acts of kindness and small gifts for an arbitrarily designated day. I would argue that no woman who is comfortable in her skin and confident in her relationship needs 100 roses, a life sized teddy bear or a $300 dinner. Prepare dinner at home, rent a cabin for the weekend or craft a handmade gift. True love says, “I thought about you,” not “I can afford to impress your friends.”

A recent poll found that 43% of millennials think Valentine’s Day is the best day for a proposal. To me, that screams capitalism (look at this huge ring!) and narcissism (there were lots of proposals today, but mine was the best!), which is disheartening. The stories told by our parents and grandparents are so much sweeter and more sincere than the elaborately planned events of today. Maybe that’s what our modern love culture is missing: sincerity.

Since I’m not keen on bashing a holiday that half of the populous celebrates, I wanted to take this arbitrarily special day to share 10 posts I’ve written on everyday love. From lessons learned and keen observations to favorite love poems to humorous stories, if you’re looking for a new angle on love today, I hope you’ll find something that resonates.

10 Posts on Everyday Love

1. 5 Valuable Lessons From My 5-Year Relationship
2. Our Relationship Is a Joke: The Value Of Humor In Romance
3. A Love Letter To Myself (And To You)
4. Poetry, Tenderness, and True Love
5. Continual Becoming
6. Judger Meets Perciever
7. Intimate Strangers
8. The Meaning of Forever
9. The Story of How We Met, Part I: Her Version
10. The Story of How We Met, Part II: His Version