Foil balloons, flower arrangements, and neatly addressed cards fill our stores and homes as Valentine’s Day pproaches. Love is everywhere this time of year—but too often, so is pressure.
Valentine’s Day has become closely tied to romance and retail. Advertisements tell us what love should look like, what it should cost, and how it should be displayed. For many, the result is less celebration and more expectation. It’s fair to ask whether a day meant to honour connection has drifted into just another obligation on an already crowded calendar.
But that narrow definition misses the point. In a Grade 5 classroom, Valentine’s Day is about including everyone. In a high school hallway, it’s a hopeful candygram sent to someone admired from
afar. It’s a phone call to a parent, a grandparent, or a sibling—just to say thank you for loving me. It’s a
note slipped into a lunch bag, heart-shaped pancakes on a busy morning, or a small act of kindness that
reminds someone they matter.
Love doesn’t require a checkout line.
It can be found in a cup of coffee bought for a coworker, a smile shared with a stranger, or a moment
of generosity that goes unnoticed by anyone but the person who needed it most. These are the quiet acts
that truly strengthen our communities.
Valentine’s Day does not belong to advertisers or price tags. It belongs to all of us. And if we choose to see it that way, it becomes something far more meaningful: a reminder that love is not measured by
what we spend, but by what we give.