Why You Shouldn’t Hate Valentine’s Day.
Call me an idealist, but I’ve never understood why people hate Valentine’s Day. It’s one thing if you don’t celebrate it; that’s fine. Not everyone is required to celebrate every holiday. But what I can’t understand is pure hatred of the holiday. I just don’t get how anyone can hate a holiday that’s all about celebrating the single greatest thing in the world: love. Sure, it might be a “Hallmark” holiday that greedy corporations use to take advantage of people and rake in the dough. But, contrary to popular belief, it didn’t start out that way. Although Valentine’s Day started out as a holiday honoring a Christian martyr named Valentinus, the day first became associated with love in the Middle ages; it became the holiday we know it as around the 15th century. So even though the crude heart-shaped handwritten Valentines of earlier centuries have given way to elaborate and corny Hallmark cards, I feel that it’s important to note that the origin of Valentine’s day actually doesn’t lie within these big corporations. And even if these big corporations do take advantage of customers on Valentine’s Day, is that a reason to hate the holiday? Big corporations take advantage of customers on every major holiday, but I don’t see anyone whining about how much they hate Fourth of July or St. Patrick’s day.
Everyone has their reasons for hating Valentine’s Day. There are the “forever alone” people who refer to it as ”Singles Awareness Day” and spend the day crying in bed while eating ice cream and watching 30 Rock (not that there’s anything wrong with eating ice cream and watching 30 Rock; that actually sounds delightful). They find themselves turning bitter when February 14th rolls around each year; they ridicule the cute couples who smile and hold hands and give each other chocolate and pretty flowers because they can’t accept the fact that at that particular moment, they don’t have someone in their life. Well, I have some news for these people: just because you’re single, doesn’t mean you’re “forever alone.” There are still people out there who love you, although it may not be in the way you want them to.
Then there are the people who claim that Valentine’s Day is crap because “you should love your significant other and make them feel special every day of the year, not just one day!” I can understand what these people a little more; at least there’s some logic to their argument. Even so, I disagree with it. One of my friends pointed out a flaw in this argument yesterday that I thought made a lot of sense: if that’s how you feel about Valentine’s day, then by the same logic if we acknowledge the fact that you were born every day of the year, why should you celebrate a birthday? Or if we believe in Jesus every day of the year, why should we celebrate Christmas? Nobody ever complains about either of those things for the reason they complain about Valentine’s Day, though. So what makes Valentine’s Day so vastly different? I agree that you should love your significant other and make them feel special every day, but that doesn’t mean that there’s any harm in having a day all about celebrating the love between the two of you!
Look, I’ve been single for every Valentine’s Day. I know exactly how it feels to not have a Valentine. And sure, it sometimes sucks to see other people being showered with flowers and candy and sweet messages from their significant others while I’m staring at an empty mailbox, but does that make me hate Valentine’s Day? No! Hell, I love Valentine’s Day. I may not have a valentine, but I have a hell of a lot of people who love me and care about me, and that’s all I really need. So I’m going to sit here in my red shirt wearing my heart earrings, and I’m going to eat my Valentine’s Day lollipop and listen to my Silly Love Songs playlist. And once I’m done with that, I’m going to watch the movie Valentine’s Day, because even if it is stupid, I love anything that celebrates love because it’s the most beautiful thing in the world and it’s the one thing that keeps us all going. And despite all of the corny cards and silly stuffed animals that are plentiful on this day, that’s is what Valentine’s Day is really about; celebrating love and reminding ourselves how wonderful it is.
Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!
