Ok so first of all; yes, I know the title of this post is also the title of a Les Mis song. And no, this isn’t a review of the production of Les Mis that I saw last week. BUT if it was, I would say; holy macaroni what a show. As a friend of mine so eloquently said after watching it; “You know sometimes you get goosebumps on your arms when seeing something amazing? Well this just made me tingle everywhere.” Little bit TMI there, but it is honestly that good. Catch it at the Festival Theatre in Edinburgh until Saturday, if you can grab a golden ticket!
Anyway sorry, I rambled. Back to the heart-shaped matter at hand; love! In case you’ve missed the pink and red balloons and terrifying human-sized fluffy teddy bears in pretty much every shop in the country, you will be very aware that today is Valentine’s Day. Penned by marketing teams as ‘the most romantic day of the year’ in a guilt-trip bid for us to buy said terrifying gigantic teddy bears, February 14th is either embraced, dreaded or just plain ignored by so many of us – it’s just another Thursday, right?
Every year I hear so much chat about Valentine’s Day being just another commercial ploy – we should be telling loved ones what they mean to us every day of the year! We don’t need to do it in one day! I hear ya. Why do we need yet another excuse to buy greetings cards that will be thrown away after a few weeks, balloons that will eventually deflate and boxes of chocolates that go unfinished (ok who am I kidding, no chocolate goes unfinished in this gal’s house).
But what if we just embrace Valentine’s Day? Life can be so full-on and hectic a lot of the time, that maybe Valentine’s Day is a good excuse to take a moment to think about the ones we love. Sure, there’s no need for the gifts and the flowers, but sometimes we might need a little reminder of the importance of telling our favourite people what they mean to us. And what better reminder than the day that everyone is bombarded with pink and red hearts?
Maybe it’s your partner, family that you hardly see, or friends that live on the other side of the world. Or maybe it’s a loved one that is no longer with us. Time can fly by so quickly that suddenly months have passed and while we may be thinking of them from time to time, we don’t always let them know. So, my advice to you this Valentine’s is to take a moment, think about those you love, and reach out. Whether it’s a text or phone call, a handwritten letter or a surprise delivery of their favourite flowers or book, it will make them feel loved, and give you a happy fuzzy feeling too. And you know what, if all else fails, listen to the Les Mis soundtrack for those all-over body tingles.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Rachel x
Fairley Rachel 