What is Valentines day? Is it a celebration of love, commitment, and happiness? A commercial holiday? A not-so-subtle, once-a-year reminder to tell your significant other that you love them? Last minute calls to every restaurant in an attempt to find somewhere that can accommodate you and your loved one for that necessary romantic dinner? Rushing to the grocery store after work to sift through the remaining cards and quickly jot down a nice note in the parking lot before heading home? Is it a chance to gorge yourself on boxes and boxes of chocolate, collect useless heart-bearing teddy bears, and scour Google in search of the perfect words (which you can hopefully pass as your own)?

Love is beautiful, wonderful, indescribable. Love is something to be revered and celebrated.

However, Valentine’s Day is silly.

If you love someone, tell them. Tell them every single day, several times a day. Show them how you feel, how much they mean to you, how much they have and continue to enhance your life. Pick them some flowers simply to remind them you care. Write them little love notes more than just once a year (I have The Little Box of I Love You Postcards ,which I love sending to family and friends and leaving in random public places for strangers to pick up). Smile, listen, be there. Offer to watch the kids, give a massage, fix dinner, or propose a spontaneous trip to the park or the zoo.

It really is nice that we have a holiday that celebrates love, but why can’t everyday be a celebration of love, affection, loyalty, and intimacy? How many people truly care about the chocolate, jewelry, teddy bears, and roses? I would venture to guess that most people care more about the love and emotion, and the cheesy, yet sincere, attempts at poetry and heartfelt words.

Observe Valentine’s Day everyday. Celebrate love, praise the people closest to you, and revel in the beauty of of doing so as often as you can.

Life is short and love is powerful. When you’re gifted with power, you’re endowed with the responsibility to use that power to the fullest extent possible. Don’t reserve your love for one day a year. Practice love daily and strive to reach its strongest and purest potential.

However, if you’re into the roses, chocolates, and cheesy poems, by all means, carry on.