It’s that month when all the stores capitalize on the “lovely holiday,” Valentine’s Day. Of course, we all know St. Valentine’s Day didn’t stem from a grand love affair. Instead, it honors Christian martyr San Valentino, a defiant priest who disobeyed Roman law to help young lovers secretly wed. The dark history surrounding this day has evolved into celebrating his good work of bringing about love.

So, here we are, celebrating love and lovers on this midwinter day.

That’s not bad unless you feel the only options to celebrate the day are to buy gifts for your significant other or go out on a date. No, I’m not knocking these exciting, honored traditions. Instead, I’m encouraging you to be “inspired to love.” Inspired to love humanity, nature, animals, family, friends, community, partners, and yourself.

Your Valentine’s Day celebration may be candlelight and romance or cozying up to your cat while watching a favorite movie. Or maybe it’s helping your elderly neighbor out by shoveling snow off her driveway or volunteering at your favorite shelter. It might be a day reserved for taking stock of the wonders of “You.”

However, you celebrate St. Valentine’s Day doesn’t matter.

But you should because reserving this day as a gentle reminder to express your love is a grand idea. How? Through acts of kindness, efforts of acknowledgment, and, most importantly, through self-appreciation.

To motivate you, check out these six books that inspire love.

How to Be Enough: Self-Acceptance for Self-Critics and Perfectionists by Ellen Hendriksen.  With compassion and humor, Hendriksen lays out a clear, effective, and empowering guide on how to enjoy where you are rather than improve, be real rather than impressive, and be good to yourself when you’re wired to be hard on yourself.

How to Love (Mindfulness Essentials) by Thich Nhat Hanh and Jason DeAntonis. A comprehensive yet simple guide to understanding the many different kinds of love and meditative practices that expand the understanding of and capacity for love.  

Love Hacks: Simple Solutions to Your Most Common Relationship Issues by Kelli Miller. This is a book that everyone in a relationship should read and keep to use as a reference and refresher when love gets tough.

A Natural History of Love by Diane Ackerman. Enchantingly written and stunningly informed, this is hailed as an “audaciously brilliant romp through the world of romantic love.”

HumanKind: Changing the World One Small Act at a Time by Brad Aronson. This book will motivate you to think differently and inspire you to act in lovingly kind ways. Even if you only tell them how much you appreciate them, you have made a big difference in another person’s life.

Love Unveiled: Discovering the Essence of the Awakened Heart by A. H. Almass. This book explores three dimensions of love: appreciative love: the true liking of somebody or something; merging or connecting love. It’s a force that melts away separateness; and passionate, ecstatic love-capable of consuming us from inside out.

Images Courtesy of Shambhala Publications, St. Martin’s Press, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, New World Library, Parallax Press, and Pexels Alexander Gray.