Thoughts on Valentines, belatedly.

**We wanted to do a Valentine's related post, and Sam actually had it to Kassy on time, but this time Kassy was the late one (back to normal) so here 'tis, a day late.  And social networking commentary still coming soon.**


Sam: Happy Valentines Day!!! I’m probably the least qualified person to be writing a Valentines Day post. Seriously, my 10 year old nephew has more going on in the romance department than I do. (Sad but true) But since I’ve been MIA for a little over a week and I feel guilty for abandoning my blogging and friend duties, I’ve decided that I’ll do a v-day post.

Now, I won’t go ranting about how Valentines Day is a holiday produced by big business to boost sales of candy, cards, and other love related products.

*ungracefully crawls off soap box *

What I’ll say is this: much like New Years Resolutions, I support the idea of Valentines Day. What’s not to like about a day set aside to tell the special people in your life that you love them? But I always feel that when millions of people celebrate something, it cheapens it (Twilight, anyone?). Celebrating your love for someone special in your life should be done on a day that has personal significance for you, like on an anniversary. You shouldn’t wait for a national holiday to tell someone that they’re important to you.


Kassy: I agree. (Whoa, wait, what?)  Yes, I did just say I agree.  And not just because this is the first Valentine's day I've spent single since I was fifteen, but because I never really liked Valentine's day even when I did have someone to share it with for exactly the reasons Sam just said.  There's this huge hype around the holiday--if people don't have a date, they're depressed or preach "Singles Awareness" ish, and if they do, they make sure to let you know they got flowers, chocolate, (insert other cliche gift here). Furthermore, there's no real basis to the holiday itself.  "Saint Valentine" (or so two minutes of Wikipedia research informs me) was really a few different Saint Valentine's who had absolutely zero connection to anything romance (unless you consider being murdered romantic).  So, truly, Valentine's day is a fabricated holiday exploited by, well, all the people who make buku bucks off of it.

That being said, I think the idea of a day celebrating love, shouldn't necessarily just be dismissed.  Like Sam, I support the fact that you shouldn't wait for Valentine's day to show people you care about them, and that it is likely to mean more on a day individually special.  Love is not a subject I enjoy discussing these days, particularly considering its disintegration from one of my surest beliefs to something that now endures the brunt of my cynicism; however, its importance is unquestionable.  There are so many different forms love can take, ways to love a person, and more power than we could imagine in this complicated emotion.  It is something that I believe should always be expressed, no matter what way, and should never be underestimated.  I may not be romance's biggest fan right now, but LOVE in all of its forms is something, commercial or not, that should be celebrated.