I warned my Delilah Monthly newsletter readers, that we'd be talkin' L.O.V.E. - love - a LOT this month. I'm not going to break my promise.

I shared my thoughts on love of one's self. The acceptance of who and where you are in life right now, which brings inner peace and joy; which radiates outward and is felt by others.

It's this outward flowing current that often leads to the spark of romantic love; lover's love.

I often get calls from people who are smitten! People who are just discovering the joy of true intimacy with their beloved, those planning their weddings, those discovering love anew in a different chapter of their lives.

Romantic love is intoxicating and exhilarating, it makes you feel as if you can leap tall buildings or swim across the ocean to be with your true love. It's the stuff of poetry, plays, movies, lyrics, and sometimes, all out war.

Valentine’s Day, the national holiday of lovers, is next Tuesday. Do you have a true love that you're trying to figure out how to demonstrate your unspeakably strong feelings for?

Instead of looking for the perfect card or perfect gift, I'm going suggest something altogether different.

I'm going to suggest that you look for ways to be more vulnerable and more transparent with the one you love.

I suggest you open your heart and share the full depth of your fears, the depth of your joys, and the depth of your dreams with your partner.

I love gifts just as much as everyone, but I know that in time, roses will wilt and the petals will fall, chocolates, while delicious, will add another hour on the treadmill, but real intimacy and honesty will last for eternity.

True intimacy will bond you to your beloved in a way that cards, poems, and even those sappy love songs a certain radio personality loves to spin, can’t begin to explain or capture…

This Valentine's Day be real, be raw, and you will be rewarded.