February 4, 2008

  • Valentine's Day

    I love when I read one of my old blogs from three or four years ago, and find that I still feel exactly the same way as I did when I wrote it. I was just scanning through a few old posts, and I found one about Valentine's Day. I still feel exactly the same way about it as I did four years ago.

    I don't have a problem with Valentine's Day. You all know how much I enjoy talking about love. It is one of my favorite subjects, and I blog about it on a fairly frequent basis. It is for that very reason that I don't have a problem with Valentine's Day. Any day that encourages people to show love, regardless of the reason, is something that I believe has a value in our society. Save your stupid "it's too commercial" arguments, alright? Everything is too commercial. Christmas is a joke, Easter doesn't even exist anymore (it's spring break now) and Thanksgiving is just a time for turkey sales and NFL executives to give thanks in their obscene profits. Every holiday is a commercial fanfare. President's Day is the time to buy a new car, Fourth of July is the time to buy a new car (ironically, often a foreign car). Even think about national disasters; when September 11th hit, car dealers around the nation brought in "patriotic 0% financing." They didn't care one bit about being patriotic, but the nation's heightened sense of national pride allowed any company with a flag and The Star Spangled Banner in their ad to make serious money. Everything is commercial today, and so if you reject one holiday for its commercialism, you may as well reject them all.

    However, the point I made in my old blog is simple. In the end, you really only enjoy Valentine's Day when you're with someone. All the people who moan and complain about Valentine's Day and its ridiculous commercialism are typically single, and all the people who defend Valentine's Day are typically making plans with their significant other for the day itself. It's the same idea as Christmas. If you believe in the Christmas story and subscribe to the Christian view of Christmas, you despise the commercialism and secularism of "the winter holidays" and embrace the religious meaning of Christmas. If you don't believe in these things, the commercialism of Christmas doesn't really affect you, because Christmas is more of a break from life then a time to reflect. Obviously I'm making generalizations here; every point is going to have a counterpoint, and you can feel free to point yourself out as the exception to the rule. "But Ben, last Valentine's Day, I wasn't with anyone, and my friends and I all had a great time anyways." Well, good for you. But I stand by the fact that those who have the privilege of sharing Valentine's Day with a significant other are mostly those defending it, and those spending Valentine's Day single are those who deplore it. It's not a bad thing; it actually makes perfect sense. It's just an interesting observation.

    My suggestion for this Valentine's Day: try to skip the commercial aspect of it. Giving a gift on Valentine's Day is a special thing, and I will most certainly be taking part in giving a gift this year, but giving that gift is something extra. Regardless of whether you're single, taken, unsure, or whatever else, take Valentine's Day as an opportunity to show love to those you care about the most. Write them a little note, pull them aside and thank them, or just figure out some way to make sure they know you consider them to be special to you, and that you love them. Obviously, my priority on Valentine's Day is Kelly. But she's not my only friend; she's not the only person who has let me vent and wiped my tears away, and she is not the only person who has shared many a joyous summer day with me, or countless other experiences. Valentine's Day is about love. Forget the doubters and naysayers who tell you its about expensive jewelry, sappy cards and ridiculous boxes of candy. It's just about that raw and pure emotion of affection; platonic, romantic, and everything in-between. It's about love, and I really can't find anything wrong with that.