Photo credit: Davide Ragusa/Unsplash.com
Sure, many people without a romantic partner tend to grumble when February 14 rolls around, and some feel less-than, relative to all the happy couples out there. But not me. I think that’s a misguided way to look at the day.
As Lin-Manuel Miranda famously said last year, “Love is love is love is love is love is love.” Or, to quote the Beatles, “All you need is love.” Point is: There’s no specific rule that says what or who you have to love or celebrate today. (I’ve never seen one, anyway.) Rather, this is a day to celebrate love itself.
And that’s why, on Valentine’s Day, if I don’t have someone specific in my life to love, I spend the day doing things I love, and celebrating all the people, places, and things I love.
This year, there are many people, places, and things to celebrate. For example …
- The view from Cindy’s Rooftop in Chicago
- Brian Stelter’s Reliable Sources and the Hollywood Reporter’s Today in Entertainment email newsletters
- When audiobooks are read by their authors (see Disrupted, by Dan Lyons, and Born to Run, by Bruce Springsteen)
- My bed
- The “A Lovely Night” scene in La La Land
- We Are the Change We Seek: The Speeches of Barack Obama
- Not Your Father’s Root Beer
- Snow days
- “Happy People,” by Little Big Town
- Reading the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly over Saturday lunch
- Spotify Premium
- When I walk into a small business and the people who work there know me
- Being an uncle
- Adrienne LaValley, the National Floors Direct spokeswoman
- Steak night
- Meeting friends I’ve gotten to know via social media offline
- “Wait for It,” from Hamilton
- The Xfinity X1 mobile app
- Clarence Clemons’ sax solo in “Jungleland” — it never gets old
- My battery-charging iPhone case — and the attractive salesperson who suggested I buy it
- The mute and unfollow options on Twitter and Facebook
- Warm chocolate chip cookies at Panera Bread
- The hopeful spirit at the beginning of another baseball season
- John Oliver and Bill Maher
- Butter cake
- American Housewife
- Spring in Boston
- Being a packrat at those times when I find something I didn’t realize I still had and it brings back good memories
- “Drive It Like You Stole It,” from the movie Sing Street
- My friends
- Dunkin’ Donuts hot chocolate K-Cups
- Working for small- and medium-sized businesses
- Manmosas
- My Slanket
- The Boston Cream donut at Kane’s Donuts
- The scene in The Founder where the McDonald brothers explain to Ray Kroc how they came up with their “fast food” concept
- Great sports comebacks (see 2016 World Series and 2017 Super Bowl)
- Chicken parm
- Everyone who reads my blog posts, as infrequent as they may be
To all of those people, places, and things … know that I love you.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
What are YOU celebrating today? Let me know in the comments section below, or by tweeting this blog post.
Martin's Musings 
I dislike so many of the things you’ve listed it shows I like you just for who you are, and not what you are. Your commitment to a bright outlook on life is wonderful.
Well, then, there’s one more thing I can add: People who don’t see eye-to-eye with others, but who like them anyway. 🙂