February 14, 2022
by James Leonard Bautista
February, the month of Love, is always incorporated with sweet exchanges of “I Love You”, outpouring of chocolates and flowers, sweetest messages and dedications, tight hugs and clasps, grandiose dates, and other activities that spell “Love” and “Warmth”. The spotlight is on lovers and oftentimes some are being left in the society’s context of Valentine’s Day. If this month gives couples the warmest and giddiest feeling, some people tend to just ignore the auras emitted by love birds passing by them, sometimes throw soft bashes and several “sanaol” to them. But how is Valentine’s Day viewed in other people’s perspective?
Diving deeper to the minds of people in different state, in different chapters in their life as they embrace the breezy air of February – how their minds are as they craft their own frame of Valentine’s Day. Different questions were asked to spark the minds of people coming from different position in our society’s “Love Book” – the unheard, the unnoticed have spoken!
Eight people with varying “relationship status” accepted the challenge to personally voice out and reveal what outlook runs in their mind. Bravely casting their reactions from different questions thrown to them brings us to a new height in discovering sharper takes in welcoming the month of February and unveiling a wider spectrum, a different shade on Valentine’s colors.
How will you describe “Love” in your current state of being?
Jethcrea, 2nd Year College Student (North Cotabato)
I believe that love must be holistic, which means that you must love yourself both inside and out. Finding inner peace in your existing situation, recognizing your imperfections, and making the necessary changes.
Josh, 4th Year College Student (Camarines Sur)
For me, love is something we oftentimes excpect less (in all forms) but grows and matures in time.
Erika, 3rd Year College Student (Surigao del Sur)
Love can be conveyed in many ways, I show love by giving and thus seeing others happy with simple gestures. Everyone has their own perception on how Love is, in my state I would say that love is knowing that you’re happy and full filled with yourself while seeing someone or others having the same feeling.
Mark, 4th Year College Student (Sultan Kudarat)
I just know that love comes in different shapes and sizes. Having experienced those forms, all I can say is that love can be described as a common feeling of attraction, we can all feel like we are in love because we are, however, there is a fine line between being in love (attraction) and staying in love (commitment).
Dan, 2nd Year College Student (Davao City)
In life, Love is one the best gifts that a person can give and receive. When a person loves, you can see it through his/her smile, the pounding of his/her heart, and through every kiss and hug. For me when I describe Love, I describe it as a roller coaster ride as every person in my life expresses their love for me in different ways.
Jericho, 1st Year College Student (Manila City)
Being in a relationship, I think my definition of love would be straight out of a textbook. That it is about patience, understanding, communication, and acceptance. Love is pretty subjective, and I can even go as far as saying that love is a choice. You may not be able to choose who you love, but it’s up to you to stay. It is about seeing their flaws, but loving them nonetheless. It’s wanting to be around them all the time for you feel safe and at peace.
Charm, Grade 12 Student (Davao City)
Love entails having a high regard for one’s own well-being and pleasure, attending to one’s own needs rather than sacrificing one’s own well-being to please others, and refusing to accept anything less than what one deserves.
Dennis, 3rd Year College Student (South Cotabato)
In my current state of being, love is patient because it is a journey. Change, growth, and maturation are all part of that journey. A slow and steady love will be worth it in the end.
How will you use love to keep you moving?
Jethcrea: When it comes to being resilient, love might be a powerful motivator. It may be beneficial in that it would motivate me to love more despite the heartbreaks I have experienced.
Josh: Just as many people would say, love will keep us moving because of its unique capabilities. It has the urge to make us feel motivated and help up to stand still when everything seems falling.
Erika: I can use love as a daily inspiration by being motivated to get through the day knowing that everything will be alright.
Mark: There are different forms of love, may it be love for a person, love for work etc. And without the feeling of love, it is impossible to keep moving forward. We often think as if we don’t do the worst things for love but the truth is we are doing those sacrifices in the name of love. With that said, I will continue to be in love in order to keep moving forward.
Dan: I use it as an inspiration as I have always been inspired by my loved ones. Their love for me and my love for them is already a tool to help keep on moving towards the success of our lives.
Jericho: My significant other makes me stronger. It’s a good thing having someone to lean on when you’re not feeling your best. And love keeps me moving for I can be vulnerable in his arms and he will assure me that it’s okay. It’s being able to express your feelings and feel better afterwards, which helped me a lot to deal with everything.
Charm: I’ll utilize love to keep going forward by self-compassion.
Dennis: Loving yourself will provide you self-confidence and self-worth. It will motivate you to do things you love, making you feel positive, more involved and committed to your life, as well as more productive and excited about doing them.
How do you see “Valentine’s Day” according to your present self?
Jethcrea: I see Valentine’s Day as a day of giving myself a break from all the works and challenges that I am currently in. Some may have different definition of what they should be doing in this particular event but I chose to be self-centered so that I could heal and feel relief.
Josh: Well, Valentine’s Day is something worth celebrating but yet the current generation seems to view it as something not necessary. Valentine’s day for me is the highlight of the year to show your love to someone.
Erika: Valentine’s Day is known as a day for people to be sweet or romantic with each other. Some may call it Heart’s Day and it is because of all the red color and smiles you see on people’s faces.
Mark: Well, story time, I used to think that Valentine’s Day was made by fools and make lovers fool themselves by buying expensive gifts for their loved ones. Fast forward to the present time, I badly need someone or some people (other than my family) to be with me on a Valentine’s Day. I mean it’s only a day out of 365 when we feel lonely and clingy.
Dan: I actually celebrated Valentine’s Day with my family and friends of course and I see it as a celebration of the love that we express to each other.
Jericho: It’s not really special. Even though I’m in a relationship, I know that they just use this holiday to sell chocolates and flowers.
Charm: According to my present self, contrary to common opinion, Valentine’s Day is not just for lovers, but for all people we care about. Of all, it isn’t the only occasion for us to express our affection. Rather, it is yet another opportunity to express our love and appreciation for those we care about.
Dennis: I see my valentine’s day as not as perfect, traditional and normal compared to others but it is a day of love that is worth celebrating, a day of romance, a day of expressing love for each other regardless of gender and life status.
How will you inspire others to love “unconditionally”?
Jethcrea: I may inspire people by demonstrating that love has no bounds, that no matter your gender, color, or origins, when you love, you should do so unconditionally.
Josh: Well, one must love him/herself fully before he/she could love another human being. It takes courage, time and maturity to love unconditionally so it should start within ourselves, to assess our own capabilities, how mature are we and how can we foresee situations that requires patience and understanding.
Erika: From the word itself “unconditionally” it means to have no conditions. So loving without the point of resisting or limiting one’s self. I could inspire other by saying that our own parents love us unconditionally even if we are not the best for them in every way.
Mark: To love unconditionally is to love without borders, I would like to inspire you, but I would also warn you that loving other than yourself may take up the energy that was supposed to be used on the creation of a stronger version of you. So, I suggest that you learn to love yourself first, but if someone (you like), comes your way, don’t hesitate. If you love and you win, you will be happier, but if you love and you lose, you will be wiser. Experience will be your teacher.
Dan: Love is a powerful thing which can hurt a person or make a person happy. In order to love unconditionally, you should be able to love yourself first before loving someone else because how can you love and accept a person if you don’t love and accept yourself first. You should learn how to love a person with all your heart without any limitations or boundaries.
Jericho: I don’t think that loving unconditionally is an ideology that you can just teach or inspire someone to do. I think it’s an act that a person will do ones they’re ready to do so. Loving unconditionally may take a toll on you if not everything works out, but if it does— you’ll find yourself in a better place, happier, and more deserving of reciprocation.
Charm: Unconditional love necessitates unconditional love for oneself first. To encourage people to love unconditionally, I shall show the genuine definition of love, which is to love oneself first so that I can have the strength of heart and mind to love another human being. There appears to be so much pressure in our society to be flawless that loving oneself has become a difficult effort, but it is the key to absolute, unconditional love of all others.
Dennis: Love unconditionally, because love works from love, it is the source of all good things. Always remember that it is not necessary to reciprocate. It makes no difference whether you received or did not receive something. The most import thing is that you felt genuine love.
Give one word to describe your exact feeling about “Love”
Jethcrea: Red
Josh: Unexpected
Erika: Understanding
Mark: Free
Dan: Crazy
Jericho: Serenity
Charm: Fondness
Dennis: Sanctuary
Amidst the varying thoughts that contoured from different personas, a common ground emerged on how Valentine’s Day of the modern era embraced inclusivity and understanding. The conventional views of the society were indeed remastered for a celebration that acknowledges the widest audience packing with them their own simple way of embracing the said yearly event. From the honest responses casted, love indeed comes in different shapes, states, forms, state, etc. – the barrier that restricts people to internalize the deeper meaning of the month of Love was broken into pieces.
Though in a different perspective, the bond that has been created and passed through people made this event a time for people to strengthen not just relationships, but the realization that love can indeed conquer the deepest dips and highest peaks.
Show your utmost appreciation without expecting something in return. Express your love in the widest angle possible – for all the love ones that needed the warmth of understanding and compassion. Create a spark of inspiration and unconditional love to your own circle as this will ripple widely. Beyond the “two curves and a pointy peak” lies a lot more, waiting to be unraveled as we constantly use love to break more of the barriers that restrict – What about yours?