Lovely Day

Well, as you all know, Valentine's Day is coming up, so I decided to speak on it. From the days of the Greco-Roman St. Valentine's Day to present day V-Day, this is one of those holidays that gets people tremendously up in arms about signs/symbols of love and affection. It is a day of red and white, Cupid and arrows, and doilies and lace. It's a day where a man loves loving a woman and vice-versa. What a wonderful day and what a wonderful world.

That's all fine and dandy, but I'm not sure if I'm totally with all of what's being perceived about this day. Nowadays, with the inflation of commerciality, the marketing of it has created a false sense of urgency and importance of this day. In this day and time of 2008, I would be willing to wager that a lot of people that celebrate Valentine's Day don't know the history of it. Most of the shops and stores and vendors and manufacturers don't care to educate, but would rather seek profits on the backs of an uninformed population of people. Valentine's Day, like Lent, confession, and Ash Wednesday, has its roots heavily embedded in the Catholic faith. If people don't practice these other events, what allows Valentine's Day to penetrate faith?

Another thing about V-Day that I don't agree with is the fact that one day can override the rest of the year. How can someone show them how they feel all throughout the year, but because someone does not go balls to the wall on Valentine's Day, it's a big deal? Conversely, how can someone be satisfied with someoen who does the special things and gives their money to all these vendors to make a Valentine's Day special, then turns around and does NOTHING for the rest of the year, because "there's nothing special about today". You can buy the SAME candies all year round, you can buy the SAME flowers all year round, you can purchase the SAME stuffed animals all year round, so what's the special circumstance here?

Am I in total disagreeance with V-Day? Not really. I think any opportunity to spend quality time is a wonderful thing. I just don't understand why this day has to hold people the way it does. If you have an anniversary, you celebrate that. Not because everybody is doing it on that day, but because it holds a special meaning to you. Take time to celebrate yourselves. Heck, you can celebrate Lover's Day on February 17th if you want! I love loving love like the next person, but I mean, anyone who feels that way knows that V-Day is not make or break. We need to stop letting these vendors dictate what days and items are important to us and just love and appreciate each other. We celebrate Jesus EVERYDAY, not just Christmas. We give thanks for our life's blessings EVERYDAY, not just Thanksgiving. We live in the shadows of the strides of Bro. Dr. King EVERYDAY, not just MLK day. I'm thankful I have a job EVERYDAY, not just Labor Day. Conclusion: handle your business daily, not just days you can purchase equipment for!

-B