This month, classic gifts such as chocolates, flower bouquets, and love letters with grand declarations are once again in high demand. Although we often idealize receiving gifts or dining with our loved ones under the moonlight, the celebration of love during Valentine’s Day is typically limited to a specific form of romance.
However, love is diverse and unique. It takes on many shapes and is experienced differently by individuals. There are no set guidelines for expressing it, and no two experiences of love are exactly alike. So as we embrace love this Valentine’s season, let’s celebrate it in our own special ways and in the forms that resonate with us the most:
1. For yourself
Loving yourself can perhaps be the most selfless act you can do in order to love others. Besides, how can you give what you don’t have in the first place? It seems that many believe that self-love is a form of narcissism when it is equally important as other forms of love.
Take it from former beauty queen and social entrepreneur Zara Carbonell who, like most of us, once believed that love revolves around romantic relationships. In her debut memoir book Lost You, Found Me, she chronicled her journey towards finding ultimate self-love and true fulfillment in life in her own terms and after a series of heartbreaks. In the end, she realized that prioritizing herself has directed her to the right people to love. Call it fate, but it’s most certainly just a side effect of knowing your worth and completely embracing self-love.
2. For your family
Most of the time, our love for family becomes top priority and overshadows anything outside of that. It’s innate in our Filipino culture to be tightly knit and family oriented. However, this selfless form of love can squander whatever dreams we may have for ourselves. But in order to give the best for our families, we need to bring out our best selves as well.
From a mom of four who rose up to be a leader in the creative marketing industry, Chairmom Merlee Jayme shared how her career aspirations have ultimately shaped her daughters to strive for success in their respective fields and encouraged parents to dream big for their families in her book Chairmom.
3. For your dreams
Sometimes life’s challenges compel us to reevaluate whether the dreams we have for ourselves are meant for us. We feel less about the hobbies and passions we used to have when we struggle to achieve our dreams.
But we need to remind ourselves why we’ve built our love for those dreams in the first place and Fearless Filipinas 2 does exactly that. In this anthology, 24 women shared their triumphs and tribulations in their quests to achieve their dreams and how their love for their fields and causes dared them to be different.
4. For your work
Work is part of our daily lives and while it’s challenging to fully love what we do sometimes, our society is slowly placing emphasis on wellness and creating happy workplaces. Working Well shows the different work cultures and best HR practices some of the top companies in the country do to cultivate happy and productive employees.
Since side hustles are also gaining popularity to increase income, Selling on Carousell shares inspiring stories of how individuals found their love for business and working on their passions. Both these books are up for release but you can already reserve your copy!
5. For your health
Loving our bodies despite the stress of life can be very hard. But loving our bodies requires more than physical exercise. It involves a total makeover, which all starts with a mindset for health and wellness.
Holistically Fit from the founder and CEO of Holifit PH Jose Villablanca, now available for pre-order, explains how to form small habits that can compound to long-term gains for our physical, mental, and emotional health so we can fully embrace and love ourselves.
6. For your healing
Love can be toxic, especially when it comes from a place of trauma and despair. While it may lead us to distrust the idea of love, love can also come in the form of healing.
From debut author Gresson Peiffer’s Sharing My Light and Healing Energy: Journey to True Self, she imparts experiences of healing and wisdom amidst life’s challenges, how to overcome inner battles stemming from receiving toxic forms of love and ultimately cultivate a love built from forgiveness, acceptance, and inner strength.
7. For God
No matter your spiritual beliefs, it is undeniable how strong faith in a higher being than ourselves can make the impossible things in life possible. Many times, we get caught up in the minute details of our lives that we tend to forget our lives are already anomalies or miracles by themselves.
Some time off to reflect on the enormity of the world we live in can do wonders for our inner well-being. Ray Berja’s Faith and Grace is a 365-day devotion book to reconnect with our spiritual love. And since the seemingly monumental challenges we have in life find their way towards solutions, Hermen Atienza’s God Business Mandate speaks exactly how faith became a foundation for the success of many businesses we have today.
These are just a few examples of the various aspects of love we can explore during this time. For many, love takes the form of cherishing a significant other, playing with a beloved pet or “fur baby,” or sending memes to friends. Although the idealized view of love has countless perspectives, one thing is certain.
“I think what’s special about this season is that people each have a unique way of expressing their love. Here at Bookshelf PH and Blankscape Media, we always strive to bring out unique stories about love and life. Making those stories come to life fuels us to be even more creative as a digital publishing house and a marketing agency. It also brings us closer to our love for storytelling and passion for empowerment and nation-building,” according to Monette Quiogue, Managing Partner of Bookshelf PH and Blankscape Media.
Love, especially in this season of hearts, can feel overrated at times. And maybe it is–but love is a testament to our humanity and we do so because, at our core, love compels us to live fully, completely, and unequivocally.
Get your copies of Lost You, Found Me (PHP899), Chairmom (PHP499), Fearless Filipinas 2 (PHP799), Working Well (PHP699), Selling on Carousell (PHP799), Holistically Fit (PHP899), Sharing My Light and Healing Energy: Journey to True Self (PHP749), Faith and Grace (PHP350), and God Business Mandate (PHP899) at Bookshelf PH this Valentine’s Day.