Valentine’s Day is coming up, and that means another “lonely” Valentine’s Day ... How depressing! But is it really?. To be honest, I love love. I have spent many Valentine’s Days alone, but guess what? I love it. I love sweet gestures. I love to see other people happy. I love beauty. I love romance.

Granted, Valentine’s Day is not everyone’s cup of tea. For some, it really is a reminder that love is “foul”. We have become a society where we are cold-hearted to avoid heartbreak, but really, what hurts worse? To be bitter and miserable or to be heartbroken? You are only torturing yourself by choosing to miserable.

However, why do we want to hate love so bad? Why do we treat love as some infectious disease that we try so desperately to avoid? I guess we define love as we experience. Not to sound corny, but to love and to be loved is one of the greatest and safest feelings. It doesn’t even have to be love of a significant other but love of a parent/guardian, a best friend, or even a pet. Loving someone and being loved means so much to me. Even if I do always make fun of it -- everything we dream in life is a way to be loved a little more. Love is not something we have to run from.

I realize that “forever”, “love”, and “promise” has been thrown around so much. The powerfulness of these words has deluded into nothing more than words that bring up heartbreak, memories, and old experiences. We shouldn’t have to put people on trial when they say them; we should just be able to believe them.

Unfortunately, that’s not the case. It puts a bad taste in our mouth. It’s easy to fall into coldheartedness whenever you get hurt a time or two. It makes you, for once, want to not be the brick but finally be the window pane. Everyone has or will go through this pain at least once in their life. It’s easy to be turned away from it.

BUT don’t let it turn you away. It’s okay to love. If it hurts you, was it love to begin with? Sometimes we think we know about love even if we have never experienced it. When we never experience it, we still believe we know for some reason. Love the ones around you. You don’t have to contain your love for one thing, one person (unless pertaining to relationships), one anything. The human race lives for passion, beauty, romance, love. Self-love is romance.

All in all, love is not a toxin. You don’t have to fall out of love. You can stare at the ceiling in the dark while listening to music when you are in love. You can love your friends indefinitely. You can love your family with your whole heart. You can love the stars and the moon. Love will make your heart so warm and full that everyone can feel it when you enter a room. Don’t let the world make you numb.