Love.

It is what Valentine's Day should be about. But I guess that is not the problem. What confounds it most is the multitude of definitions and perceptions we have about the four-letter word.

Among the abstract concepts, love probably has the most meanings (or attempts to give meaning to it) and the most translations in different languages. It is intrinsic in all cultures, it is a defining trait of humanity- it is what makes us human.
Its meaning is lost not in the translation, but in its usage and its misuse and abuse. We further muddled it by equating it with a lot of things- sex, want, money (love could even mean mahal i.e. expensive), pleasure, gifts and material things, among others.

Without being preachy about it, Pope Benedict XVI placed love in its proper context in his first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est.
Lest we allow ourselves to be eaten by the commercialism of Valentine's Day, be reminded that it is about love. It is not about queuing at the motel, dining at the most expensive resto or a bunch of Holland tulips or wearing someting red or giving a card. It is not just for couples or romantic fools. Or just for the young.

Valentine's could be for a child giving his parents a card with an asymmetrical heart (it doesn't even have to be red), a septuagenarian couple enjoying an early morning walk (still holding hands after all the years and despite the Alzheimers), a group of friends celebrating their single-blessedness, patriots uncessantly fighting for this beloved country or a single person preferring to enjoy his being "alone" in self-reflection or as a respite from the rigors of life and its idiosyncrasies.
Because love is for everyone. And expressed in a gazillion ways. Hey, it doesn't even have to be Valentine's Day to celebrate or show love.

Loving and being loved is for everyday.