Valentine Day usually comes with anticipations. Red roses. Grand gestures. Perfect words. Certain answers on what we are to one another. But love has never been this easy. To others, valentine day is a feast as a reminder of connection, intimacy, and being selected. To others, it is more silent or more heavier or more complex. It recalls, asks, and expresses, which are not always covered on cards or captions. And maybe that's okay. Couples do not just exist in love. It does not solely manifest itself in relationship milestones or physical affection. Love exists in numerous ways, it is not noticed, it is not marked, yet it is a very real thing. There is love in staying. Love in patience. Love in forgiveness. Love in gentleness where resentment should be less. Valentine Day is more likely to be about romance and love is not limited to this. It is in friendship that can stick you through trying times. It resides in that silent attention you pay to yourself when nobody is around to keep an eye on you. It is present in the recollection of your love that was love once that made you, although it might not be there. In some cases, the presence of a person is not emphasized during the Valentine day. The one you had hoped to see. The dialogue that never took place. The affair that never turned out to be what you thought. This does not imply that you have not succeeded in love. That you truly had it is what they mean. The expression of love is not affection demonstrated by its loudness. It is known in the way it manifests itself when things are mundane, awkward, or vague. It is disclosed in the struggle, persistence and emotional proximity not in the perfection. During the Valentine day, there is pressure to clarify clearly what love is. Love is usually hard to define. It is experienced than described. Lived more than announced. To others, love at this season resembles healing. Learning to trust again. Letting go of what hurt. Get rid of expectations that are no longer beneficial. To some, love resembles devotion that goes upon returning to the same individual, time after time, even when the flame has faded into something more permanent and conformable. and to most it is as though it were becoming love. Becoming more honest. More intentional. Their needs and willingness to provide are better known. It is not necessary that Valentine Day is about having all the things figured out. It may be regarding appreciating your position. Of trying to celebrate the love you have given, the love you have received, and the love you are still trying to hold. Love is not always dramatic. It is often quiet. It is often slow. It is often imperfect. But it is real. Love does not have to be demonstrated this Valentine Day. It does not have to be loud and visible and posted online. It just has to make a purpose in your treatment of others, and your treatment of self. Since love is not determined by a day on the calendar. It is determined by the decisions we make particularly when nobody is on the watch.