A Luxurious Valentine Memory

By Carol Woolum Roberts

With Valentine’s Day approaching this coming Monday, I started thinking about one of my favorite valentine memories with Paul.

It was Valentine’s Day, 1989.  Paul and I took a trip that began in Billings, Montana.  We were living in Glendive, Montana at the time. 

Here are the things I remember from that trip, if my memory serves me correctly.  We visited the mall in Billings and we each had a very small amount of money.  I think between five and ten dollars.  We were to do a search in the mall and buy each other Valentine’s Day presents using that amount of money.  The one thing I remember receiving from Paul were some earmuffs.  The importance of the earmuffs I will explain in a minute.

We also attended a concert that night.  Bobby McFerrin was this new upcoming artist who used his voice as a musical instrument.  “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” had come out the year before.  He was still fairly unknown when we saw him.  For me the highlight of the concert was when he asked audience members to come up on stage and help him sing a “Wizard of Oz” medley that was incredible. If you haven't seen him do this medley, you can watch a similar version to the one we saw here.

The earmuffs came in handy because we left Billings the next day and traveled to Yellowstone National Park to do some cross-country skiing.  Eastern Montana had been experiencing a drought, and we needed to drive to the park to find snow to ski on.  We met Paul’s brother Kevin and his wife Linda for a weekend of skiing outside of West Yellowstone.

I also remember this trip because just this week I was talking about the word “luxury” in “The Artist’s Way” course I taught in our Sacred Community Garden. 

But the luxury that happened this weekend did not involve high end accommodations, fur coats, sports cars, caviar and champagne. 

The luxuries we experienced were things that brought us joy.  Those are the true luxuries in our lives.

We enjoyed the luxury of time spent with one another and with family.

We spent a minimal amount of money buying Valentine’s Day presents for one another.

We attended a concert of a rather unknown artist who blew us away with his use of creativity as he performed acapella vocals to sound like over ten different musical instruments.

We enjoyed the beauty of one of the country’s beautiful national parks in the winter.  We saw buffalo, elk herds, wide vistas of scenery, and the devastating effects of the fire that had powered its way through the park the former summer.

All these things brought us joy.  All these things were a luxury.

We need to give ourselves some authentic luxuries on a regular basis.

Luxury is what brings you joy.  It could be time with friends, family, and time for yourself.

What gives you true joy?  The answer to this question is what you define as a luxury in your life.

Two luxuries I enjoy are preparing food with quality ingredients and buying seeds and flowers to plant in the spring in my gardens.

It doesn’t have to cost a lot of money.  Usually, your personal luxury is one of your personal pleasures.

Flannel sheets in the winter is a luxury to me.  Flannel pajamas as well.  They both feel nice and keep me warm.

Sit down for a moment and write out ten things that are a luxury that you could give yourself that bring you joy.  We would love for you to share some of the items on your list.  I mentioned a few things on my list already.  Here is my list of ten luxuries:

1. Quality ingredients to prepare food
2. Buying seeds and flowers to plant in the spring
3. Flannel sheets
4. Flannel pajamas
5. Sitting on my patio with Paul in the evening during the summer
6. Diffusing different essential oils in our bedroom at night
7. Having special mugs to drink my coffee out of in the morning
8. Being with a group of family or friends and enjoying one another through conversation
9. Dark chocolate
10. Sitting by a crackling fire

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