Valentine’s  Day: A climax of true love?

By the time today goes to bed several things will have happened. Thousands, if not millions, of roses and other gifts will have exchanged hands. The phrase ‘I loved you’ will have travelled across the entire world.

That is not all. The streets in our locations will have been painted red as a sign of the love that is associated with a day like today. It is very easy. If someone is not in red and black, then they should be in red and white.

It should also be very easy to notice roses pinned to one’s clothes. That should be a free advert that the one putting on such a rose has someone who says they love the person.

Further, the beaches on the various locations along the lake will have been trodden on by couples who take today as a day on which they have to remind each other of how much into love they are. Or should we say they go there to erase sins of the past and prepare for those of the future?

Most of the actions of today come after a year of turbulence in a number of love relationships. There are beatings and exchanges of insults between couples between February 15 of this year and February 13 of the next.

But look at how such turbulent times are quickly forgotten come February 14? There is no room for reminding each other of the turbulent times of the past on this day.

In fact, it is often those that are aggrieved the most that propose the first step towards forgetting such. As a result, a day like today is characterised by what we usually see because of such preparedness in forget. That is why the day is a hit.

As a people, it is not bad to forget qualms we usually experience in our love relationships. Forgetting is part of the golden rule ‘forgive and forget’ that sees us together tomorrow after quarrelling today and yesterday.

However, the fantasies that make today different from the rest of the days in a year are what bring into question the genuineness of the love that is proclaimed on such a day.

Loved ones as we claim they are to us and they claim we are to them, we must not be looking to just today to proclaim such love. Love does not age and is said to be blind.

Thus, everything that happens in our relationships today should happen every day. And that love should not see any difference between today and the rest of the days in a year.

I was fascinated by a message I saw in the newspapers a few days after February 14 2008. And I must confess I liked it. So many people had advertised in the newspapers proclaiming love to people they said were their loved ones.

This person proclaimed in their message that they saw no reason to be bothered and carried away by the pressure and elation that a day like today comes with. They refused to place a message when everyone was celebrating that they had placed one.

Unlike most of the messages that were published on February 14 that year, this message was very clear. It was located in such a way that seeing it was very easy. The writer proclaimed that they will show their love to the person they addressed the message to every day and not just on February 14.

Surely, like the words in that 2008 message, if love is what is manifested, what happens today should happen every day or what doesn’t happen every day should not happen today. We should show love to those we say we love every day.

Love should start from deep inside the heart. It should be the feelings from the deepest part of the heart, and not the one-day occurrences on a day like today, that should make those we say we love appreciate sharing love with us.

We should cultivate love that borders on trust and respect for one another for we can only appreciate love from people we trust and respect. If these ingredients lack, relationships shall always be platforms for arguments. And only February 14 will temporarily extinguish these arguments.

However, as we walk shoulder to shoulder with our loved ones on this day, we should sift through the chambers of our hearts. Then we should determine whether the love we are proclaiming to the person on our right or left is genuine or not.

Let us see if we feel the person we say is dear to us. If we cannot, then we should as well think twice before we give away that rose or we let go the phrase ‘I love you!’ Eternal love should be left to grow.