Love month

February has been tagged as the love month, the time when people celebrate the idea of being in love with another person. It is as if the cliche could go on forever and those without a love interest would be labeled as being bitter, because there is nothing else better to do. What could have been a month to be happy is loathed by many.

But this is not the way supposedly love is to be celebrated, let alone highlighted. Heck, we don't even have to adhere to the custom of giving love only on February 14. In case you haven't noticed, there is no legal holiday for that. My Dad used to say it was a made up day by businessmen to ride on the hype to get a lot of sales for that day. I'd say it used to be an old tradition passed on to different generations. But then again, the issue really is how we should value love.

We were taught back in pre-school that love is also manifested to our parents, to those who have given us love also on the day we were born. But what is larger than that is the love for one's own country. An easy phrase to say but very hard to practice in real life. Why? Because we are running out of reasons to fall in love even more.

I'm proud to be a Filipino, but not proud to be in this country now. We are surrounded by a lot of factors that would make us regret our nationality. However, on the other hand, we can also choose to fight for what is right and what is best. On a trip to downtown, I saw a lot of people in the Comelec office lining up to get their registrations updated or be a new voter. It was a pleasant sight, but I could only hope that these lines will translate to good choices. We need to choose a leader who can do so much for us with no agenda and personal motive.

I know it seems very idealistic but we can do it as well. February has only 28 days, meaning, 28 days of mushy words and texts muddled with bitter posts all over our social media feeds. We can choose to join in that type of reaction towards the love month or the other way around.

Even the Bible said that love is patient and kind. If ever if want to embody that definition of love beyond our own comforts then a different kind of patience is needed for us to progress. It will be long hurdle, we have so much to learn and discuss for February, apart from love and all its forms.