February, and the Art of Staying in Love
Dear Velveteen,
February has announced itself—not loudly, not with spectacle, but with intention. It arrives like someone who knows their worth: shorter days still lingering, light returning carefully, asking us to be present rather than impressed.
This month carries a reputation for romance, but I’m more interested in a quieter devotion—the kind of love that doesn’t perform, doesn’t rush, doesn’t negotiate its own depth. The love that stays.
Being present, I’m learning, is its own form of seduction.
There is a sweetness to it. Not saccharine, not excessive—but the slow, deliberate pleasure of something savored. Like the first bite of a dessert worth waiting for. Like warmth lingering on the tongue. Presence is love’s most understated luxury.
February invites us to remain in love—not just with another, but with the moment itself. To stay here. To resist the urge to rehearse what’s next or revise what’s already passed. To understand that the now is not a placeholder—it is the point.
When we stay present, the mind softens. The body follows. The soul exhales. The spirit settles into itself. What emerges is a gilded kind of awareness—golden, not flashy. A gem that doesn’t sparkle for attention, but glows steadily, confident in its rarity.
This is the love I’m interested in this season.
The love that lives in breath and pause.
In laughter unrecorded.
In desire that doesn’t rush its own unfolding.
In attention so complete it feels almost extravagant.
There is a quiet sass in choosing presence in a culture addicted to distraction. In staying in love while the world scrolls past itself. In understanding that joy does not need to be chased—it needs to be noticed.
February, with all its tenderness and restraint, reminds us that love is not always a grand declaration. Sometimes it is simply a decision to stay awake inside our own lives.
So here’s to this moment.
To the sweetness of being here.
To love that gilds the mind, steadies the body, nourishes the soul, and emboldens the spirit.
May we remain—
present, devoted, and deliciously in love.
With warmth and golden clarity,
Sherley
