Is it time for us to go back to the lessons of our youth, when we were carefree and not so jaded that making the first move looked like submission or a losing move in a power play?
When I was younger, I was never really the chick who had a Valentine. But you can be sure I was sending them. And I wasn’t the one who would send to my friends or sijui my mom, no. I was usually targeting the top three hottest boys in class, and then my best friend who I was secretly in love with. I was in a small school, so my class had about seven boys. I liked to cover all my bases. And boy, my Valentines were elaborate. Everyone could usually tell who the Valentine was from because they were so over the top. And – fun fact – I was in a Christian school, so my Valentines would always have Bible verses in them. A la ‘Happy Valentines! Song of Solomon 8:7: Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it.’ I had lines.
Sometimes I look back on that girl cutting out paper hearts to stick symmetrically on a bigger heart, and I wonder where that girl went. She was resilient, first of all, because she didn’t get her first Valentine until maybe the last two years of primary school, ha! (Shout out to BA and KA) She wasn’t scared of being told no, or admitting her love or like for someone. If she liked you, she liked you, and she didn’t care who knew. She was even doing art projects with you in mind.
