Valentine’s Day has come around again. While not being able to afford to turn the heating on, traditional celebrations of the day – which often involve paying for an obligatory meal out, a card and a present – somewhat lose their appeal. We need to bring out the part of Valentine’s Day that’s actually important: the appreciation of love, and all its different forms.
While there’s a (slight) difference between loving your boyfriend and loving a pack of Monster Munch, for example, both have importance. Recently I’ve been trying to register – and sometimes even take note of – those tiny bits of everyday love that make life fun, as well as the big bits and grandiose gestures that we get jealous of when plastered across Instagram.
For example(s) I love working from my bed when the flat is cold, I love when I’m doing my eyebrows and they end up looking the same as each other, I love Kit-Kat Chunkys, I love taking pictures of my food, I love finding out which Friends character I am on BuzzFeed quizzes, I love rewatching Peep Show 500 times, I love when I draw a perfectly straight line, I love Harry Styles, and I love peanut butter on already buttered toast – I’d imagine that last one will make it necessary for me to love clogged arteries too at some stage, but I’ll cross that bridge.
These little bits of love are often mistaken for guilty pleasures, a term which I’m sure was made up by a man to stop women wanking. We must stop calling harmless indulgences guilty pleasures – guilt is for stealing from Primark, not for watching Keeping Up with the Kardashians. These are the bits of life that you love and however small, they make life a little bit better.
Love doesn’t always present itself in the form of roses left on your bed, names tattooed on your skin, or proposals at the top of the Eiffel Tower. Love is everywhere (trying as hard as I can not to quote Hugh Grant here), and sometimes you have to find it for yourself.
Whether you’re sharing these little things with someone, or you’ve got them all to yourself – Happy Valentine’s Day – enjoy your tiny bits of love.
Oh god its wonderful
To get out of bed
And drink too much coffee
And smoke too many cigarettes
And love you so much
- Steps, Frank O’Hara