Most of us know Valentine’s Day as the 14th of February, when individuals show their love for each other through cards, flowers, chocolates, or romantic evenings. Not many of us know how the Holiday came to be. Here, indulge me for a second while I try to piece together its history.
So, the Holiday is known to be named after a saint, Saint Valentine (if that wasn’t obvious enough.) Now, the story goes that he was a priest in third century AD, in Rome where the emperor at the time had banned marriage for reasons that are just plain strange. He argued that married men were bad soldiers… like what? Anyway, Valentine disagreed and was basically badass because he married people in secret. The emperor found out, and Valentine was imprisoned and sentenced to death. Before that happened, he fell in love with a woman and sent her a letter that he signed off with “from your Valentine.” Somewhere along the line, a little boy with wings and an arrow became part of the holiday for reasons I’m confused about. Ever since then, the holiday is nationally recognized.
But whether or not you participate in this tradition is a different story. People’s opinions of and participation in this holiday is split in half – on one hand, there are folks who refrain from celebrating it, giving it no importance, while others are for it, and become intensely tied to the notion of marinating in romantic love on Valentine’s Day.
For some, it’s as though this specific day demands and expects that people wine and dine their loved ones, so much so that it’s become the status quo of relationships. To publicize your rejection of this tradition (by not giving your partner flowers or chocolates, of course) then you may be risking the health of your relationship. I mean, there are so many reasons as to why this holiday can be seen as crappy. It’s no surprise that some of you reject the whole Hallmark quality about it, that your affection and love for someone else can be trivialized and represented by chocolate. Others may argue that there shouldn’t be just one particular day of the year when love is celebrated or showcased, and Valentine’s Day does exactly that. It’s a well-known fact that flower shops get the most business on this day – that alone is telling of the holiday’s popularity (or cult-following…).
This is not to say that you shouldn’t celebrate it. In fact, it’s pretty gratifying to have your partner make special efforts to show the depths of their love for you. After all, this day is all about your love for each other. It has the ability to reassure you of the importance of your relationship with this person, and get rid of any past doubt, anger or sadness. When you think about it this way, there isn’t much to object to.
The truth is there is no right or wrong answer, and there shouldn’t be. If you want to write a poem and send over a basket of chocolates and flowers with it, then do it. Is it cheesy? Ok, yes maybe a bit, but is it sweet and does it spawn butterflies in your stomach? Yes, it definitely does. Let me tell you that if I received a basket of any type of sweets on Valentine’s Day, I will gladly ingest it without a second thought. To my future partner, please remember that.