I hope you are all having a lovely Valentine's Day today! I used
to be someone who bah-humbugged today (yes, it can be used as a
verb), saying it was a commercial holiday, and I didn't need to
have someone tell me when to tell someone else that I loved them,
and that it was horrible to see people forced into buying more
stuff after all the stuff that came with Christmas.
I'm not sure what year it was exactly that I changed my tune,
or whether it was a gradual change of mind. I realized that people
most likely DON'T say "I love you" enough to their loved ones. When
I asked people today what they were doing to celebrate, a huge
number of them said, "nothing". "I don't want to be forced into
telling my partner I love them on a specific day, it's so
commercial and useless. I love my partner all the time, I don't
need society telling me to love them more on one day". Yes, but
what about Mother's Day? We all know that mothers are mothering ALL
the time, and we appreciate their care and attention and love MOST
of the time, and we often do tell them so throughout the year. But
no one complains about having to be extra nice to their mother on
Mother's Day - no one says "It's a bogus day, my mother knows I
love her".
They celebrate her on that day, and lots of other days
too!
I'm suggesting we look at Valentine's Day the same way.
Why not celebrate love? It's lovely that kids make or get
Valentine's cards for their classmates and let each other know that
they like them (even if it is just for that day...). Why not have a
day where we are reminded to take extra care with our loved ones,
where we go a little out of the ordinary routine of the day, and
surprise someone with a love note or a flower or just bringing home
some great cheese and a baguette from the market? What's not to
love about a day where you can dress in your
best red dress and your
new heart necklace and be loving to everyone
you meet that day? It doesn't have to be overly sickly-sweet
romantic - it can simply be a statement, or a small act of
kindness, or a few tender words.
I was going to use talking about Valentine's Day as a segue into
talking about all the love I'm giving my business right now, but I
see I've gone on a bit longer than I thought :) So, you may think
the above picture has nothing to do with love - but it does! It's a
sneak peak at the new colour scheme for manusmade!!! I'm so excited
to be working with Kirsten from
Ahoy Graphics on a new logo and colour scheme,
as part of my winnings from the
Oh My
Handmade contest in December. I'll be giving you more sneak
peeks in the coming days, and will reveal the whole look to you
shortly!
So, in the comments, either let me know if you love the colour
scheme (or not), or let me know how you are celebrating Valentine's
Day (or not - bah humbug)!!
Tania xo