Will the Real Valentine’s Day Stand Up?

Valentine’s is one of my favorite holidays.  Although I might be channeling my inner 9 year old self, I can’t help getting excited the day all the hearts, pink and, yes, glitter start showing up at my local Target.  Just like with other words and holidays, I have learned from Brené Brown, PhD that sometimes looking deeper into a word allows connection to the deeper meaning.
So, I went to google, started researching the true evolution/meaning of Valentine’s Day and found some interesting tidbits.  If you try a search for Saint Valentine, you will learn that there are about a dozen Saint Valentines, and even a Pope, with the same name.  The most interesting thing to me was the actual root of the word Valentine, Valentinus. Valentinus is from the Latin word for worthy, strong or powerful and was a popular moniker between the second and eighth centuries A.D.   Several martyrs over the centuries have carried this name.
Super cool!  I can surely get behind a holiday that originally means worthy, strong and powerful because being or feeling worthy is the focus of most of my work with mothers, daughters and women of all ages.  So, the question becomes how do we feel more worthy, especially when we face a failure/mistake or even just overall bad hair day.
I know it’s certainly not a simple answer and feeling worthy means different things for everyone. For me, it’s taking the time for myself to slow down and figure out how to be more loving to myself and people around me.  For some, it involves prayer, meditation or being out in nature.  It might look like practicing acceptance of others and myself and letting go of the harsh judgement or maybe saying, “NO,” when I am worried about what other people will think.
This week in our groups, we have done a lovely heart to represent all the ways we remind ourselves that we are worthy, strong and powerful (pictures above).  I hope you will do something to remind yourself of how worthy, strong and powerful you are.
So, Happy Worthiness Day to you and everyone you love!