The colour of February is red. Red roses, expensive champagnes, teddy bears, and exquisite chocolates glisten the shops, welcoming the month of love. While this month celebrates timeless tales of love, this year also calls for commemorating it with close friends and family. Growing up, I have always seen certain days dedicated to important relationships. As much as I loved gifting my dad a watch on Father’s Day or baking a cake for my mom on Mother’s Day, I often felt that these days tend to categorise the relationships we share with our family and friends.
Some days, I need solitude. I isolate myself for a while, avoiding contact as I try to reflect on things or simply find peace of mind. On other days, I enjoy spending time with my loved ones and sharing meaningful conversations over coffee. It's a very in-and-out relationship we share with our close ones in the modern day.
Connected Yet Distant
People in romantic relationships are often advised to put in effort to maintain a stable and healthy bond. What baffles me is that we rarely emphasise making the same effort in relationships with our friends and family.
In modern times, we categorise people based on their characteristics into two flags—red and green flag. A red flag represents someone toxic in a relationship, whether through harsh words, emotional detachment, or insecurity-driven rash behaviour. A green flag, on the other hand, signifies someone who offers unwavering support and care. But even as we evolve and define these traits, the concept behind them remains unclear. What truly makes someone good? Is a green flag always green? Can a person be a red flag in one relationship while being a green flag in another?
We often witness happy families breaking apart, and best friends losing touch for years. Despite social media allowing us to network with our loved ones living far apart, how many people do we actually reach out to? Conversations often reduced to impersonal, one-liner texts. It takes months just to send a simple “Hi, how are you?” to the people we once deeply cared about.
The times when we used to randomly strike conversation with our loved ones seemed to falter and what remains are the memories. Despite modern technologies, why do we still feel so distant from the ones who matter most?
This Valentine's week, how about randomly catching up with our friends we lost contact with? Or planning a relaxed family time with our family members? Why wait for the designated days to celebrate the love we have for our loved ones? Sending in a text after months, or abruptly spending time may feel awkward initially. But as they say- effort is the silent language of love.
Views expressed by the author are their own.