By
Natasha Johnson
/ February 13, 2017
Okay, so although technically Valentine’s Day is tomorrow, I thought I’d share my thoughts on it today in line with my normal Monday post schedule and also because tomorrow I plan on avoiding all mention of Valentine’s Day altogether (even though the advertisers have been going on about since about the end of January!).
You see, when it comes to Valentine’s Day, I am what Eboneezer Scrooge is to Christmas. I really can’t stand it. But unlike Scrooge who sees the error of his ways thanks to the ghosts of Christmas, unless Valentines Day is planning to send some ghosts my way, I don’t actually think I will see the error of my ways. As in, I think there are no errors in my ways, ha ha!
On Valentine’s Day we are encouraged to celebrate love, to do something nice and romantic for our loves or to let someone we have feelings for, know about those feelings. Can’t this be done any and everyday of the year, or must we have a special, officially authorized day to do it?
Why I hate Valentine’s Day
Maybe my dislike comes from being a spindly-legged ten year old with wild hair who watched as the prettier, neat-haired girls amassed Valentine’s cards from secret admirers around the school. Pretending not to want one, but really wanting one.
Or maybe my dislike is because I hate the commercialism of Valentine’s Day. Restaurants thrusting their Valentine’s menus in your faces, hotels highlighting their romantic weekend packages, jewellerers showing off their sparklers in case someone’s thinking of a romantic proposal. Basically anyone who has something to sell which can be vaguely passed off as romantic will do it with gusto for Valentine’s Day. I even saw in my local newspaper a car garage offering ten per cent to any women briniging in their cars on Valentine’s Day. Give me a break.
And maybe my dislike is fueled because my social media timelines are rammed full with stuff about bloody Valentine’s Day. Make this, buy this, go there, come here, listen to this, wear this, do your hair like this. Noise noise, chatter chatter everywhere I look. Although, let me just briefly pause to say that I did find this video on Valentine’s Day food ideas very amusing, but I think that’s more to do with the fact that it features food (my first love), regardless of it being Valentine-themed.
Or maybe my dislike of it is because I think Valentine’s Day promotes laziness in some people and their relationships. It allows us to be bog standard all year round but to make up for it on this specially, designated day, once a year. I’m maybe way too cynical about it all and maybe I am the lazy one for not doing anything special. Maybe.
Valentine’s Day; Yay? Or Nay?
Valentine’s Day is there for those who want it, I guess. But I still can’t help feeling like it is a day that has been hijacked by the commercial masses, which makes couples feel obliged to do something nice for each other, rather than just doing something nice for each other on any day of the year, because they want to!
I cook nice dinners for no reason, my husband makes lovely pieces of furniture for the house when he can or will play me a new song that he’s just learnt on the guitar. These things happen spontaneously and randomly not because a date on the diary reminds us to.
If you go all out on Valentine’s Day, what are you like every other day of the year and if you make every day of the year count, why do you need to bother on Valentine’s Day. Do you see my point here?
Anyway if you have some lovely Valentine’s plans in store, don’t let my moaning put you off or make you feel bad. I just wanted to add another perspective on it. Reading back on this I realise that I sound like a miserable old git, but I kind of like that in me. Always the rebel against conventions, pointless traditions, and anything that makes you spend money that you don’t need to spend.
Love is love, any day of the week, any week of the year and love deserves to be celebrated in its own way, every day.
That’s all.
