It is a cold February in Ontario, and two holidays that are supposed to warm our hearts this month are Valentine’s Day and Family Day. Juxtaposing these two holidays has got me thinking a lot about how we think about love, relationships and connection.
Valentine’s Day has become an increasingly commercial celebration of coupledom and Family Day started with a focus on the traditional nuclear family. I have nothing against romance or families…but I do appreciate how our definitions of both have expanded.
I am proud that in Canada we widely welcome that romantic couples can be same- or opposite-sex – it’s all good! Galentine’s Day celebrates the wonderful women in our lives, and the love and support that we give each other all year around. We can thank the LGBTQ+ communities for the concept of chosen family – recognizing that people who have intentionally chosen to love and support each other, regardless of marriage or blood relationship, are family. Love is love.
And beyond couples and close connections – are everyday actions a little like love? We talk about micro-aggressions, but how about micro-kindnesses? When you say thank you to the bus driver, when you check in on someone going through a hard time, when you shovel the snow off your neighbour’s walk – these are all micro-kindnesses. Maybe these aren’t love, but they bring us a little closer to it.