Happy (Belated) Valentine's Day

Happy belated Valentine’s Day. 

Is that even a thing? I doubt it. Nevertheless here we are. 

The truth is I thought about a Valentine’s Day missive to the Steady community yesterday, but we had just sent two emails to your inboxes and I surmised the last thing you probably needed was another prompt tied to this holiday - along with all the business spam and such. 

I do not begrudge anyone who jumps headfirst into Valentine’s Day celebrations. It is always nice to share thoughts of love (and flowers and chocolates) with the special people in your life. I do it every year. But it is also true that February 14 has become another of the increasingly commercialized celebrations that dot our calendars. 

Feelings of love, support, community, and appreciation, are the Hallmarks (see what I did there? Couldn’t help myself.) of this holiday. And they are also many of the values we try to celebrate on Steady. So when we got a message from a reader chiding us for not acknowledging Valentine’s Day, I figured out this less-than-brilliant idea of a belated well wishing. 

I don’t want to call out the particular Steady subscriber by name, but this is proof that we do read our emails. This statement struck me: “It was surprising that you chose not to have a Valentine’s Day message. It would have meant a lot to people, particularly after 2 years of COVID fatigue and separation from people we love.”

Well, message received - although in doing so we don’t promise to make responding to writing assignments a precedent at Steady. But we do know we are all in need of reminders of love, and of life. We are fatigued. We are separated. This pandemic, the assaults on our democracy, the inherent sadnesses of the human experience, tug at our souls and our hearts. 

We should find every opportunity - be it February 14, February 15, or any other day of the year - to reach out to each other, to say I see you, I miss you, I love you, will you be my Valentine for no other reason than we care about each other and we are going through this world together, even if we are apart. 

May we remember that there are always people in need of a check in, and those in need of support should be encouraged to reach out to ask for help. Whether it’s cards or calls, presents or being present, we can always carry a Valentine’s spirit in our interactions with others - 365 days a year (except if it’s a leap year, in which case let’s make it 366). 

So to all in the Steady community, will you be my Valentine? 

Okay, back to your regularly scheduled programming. For those who are too young to understand what this means, well, I’m happy to explain after the commercial break - oops, another anachronism? 

Well at least I hope caring for each other never goes out of style, even if we forget to do enough of it now and again. 

May your day be the equivalent of sweet words on candied hearts (albeit more lasting than a sugar rush).

– Dan