Valentine's Day. Oh, how I despise Valentine's Day. Well, not despise. It's more like I just don't understand the purpose of the holiday. If you have someone you love and you are head over heels in love with the idea of Valentine's Day, please stop reading before I break your heart with my opinions. To give you a preview of where I'm going, I should let you know that my favorite part of the holiday is the half-off candy on Feb. 15 and the perverted e-cards that swarm Twitter. Maybe it's me being bitter because I'm single. Maybe it's all the girls trying to drop hints that they want a big stuffed animal, chocolates, jewelry, and flowers. Maybe it's the fact that people need an excuse to celebrate their love with someone in their life.
I'll be spending the 14th just like every other study abroad student: visiting a new city. It just so happens that I'll be in Verona, where Romeo and Juliet fell in love ... Ironic, right? I'll be with some of the closest friends I've made this past semester, who happen to be hopeless romantics. In other words, they can't wait to celebrate the day! While everyone is excited, I can't help but wonder, why do we even celebrate Valentine's Day? Does anyone even know what Valentine's Day is other than seemingly another Hallmark holiday?
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I did my research and let me tell you what I found. Valentine's Day originated with the Roman holiday Lupercalia. Back then, February 13-15th marked an archaic rite connected to fertility, making those in love want to celebrate and conceive. Looking at this now, the Roman calendars were not the same as ours, so the dates then were not precisely as they are today. Along with that, Valentine's Day is also known as the Feast of Saint Valentine, as a celebration of love and affection. But this was removed from the General Roman Calendar, yet still exists on ours today.
Other sources say Valentine's Day is celebrated because in Rome, from mid-January to mid-February, the marriage between Zeus and Hera was celebrated. People celebrated the powerful love these gods had. As for Cupid, he originated from the Latin word cupido, which means desire. His parents were Greek gods Venus (goddess of love) and Mars (god of fertility). What they try to hide from you was that Mars was also the god of war, but that's a whole other story.
Now that you know the many different stories behind the day, I want to clarify; my problem isn't with Valentine's Day, it's with the need to have a specific "holiday" to celebrate love with the ones you care about. I wish that people would show Valentine's affection more than once a year. If you love someone, why do you need a holiday to tell them? Shower them with gifts and affection spontaneously throughout the year! Leave little signs showing you care about them whenever things need to be spiced up. There's no need to wait for a holiday to tell someone how you feel.
As for those girls who are sitting on Twitter, tweeting, "lol, forever alone, no valentine," please just stop. I was that girl at one point, and looking back now, I feel pathetic for every thinking I needed a guy to make me happy. Make yourself happy. You want flowers? You want chocolates? You want a cute stuffed animal? Go out and buy some. Yeah, it won't be from a guy, and you'll have to spend some money on it, but you'll get to pick out exactly what you want and won't feel guilty cuddling that big brown teddy bear when he pisses you off.
Do yourself a favor and save the drama. Spend the day on yourself or with your girlfriends. Empower yourself and praise your sisters! Stop looking for a reason to find love, it'll find you when the time is right.
Those are my thoughts. Don't get me wrong, I do love that some people get into it and look forward to it every year. I love that people take the time on Valentine's Day to spread a little extra love to everyone in their life. I love that husbands come home from work with flowers for their wives. I love that their wives take a little extra time in the morning to look nice for them. I love that children in school write Valentines for their classmates, even for the ones they don't like. I love that parents celebrate with their children and help them make Valentines because they're too young to understand what it is. I love that this day gives nervous guys a reason to ask out the girl they have secretly been crushing on. I love that single friends go out with each other and celebrate their friendship, because they aren't actually alone, they have each other.
My point is this: Stop waiting or complaining and quit hiding how you feel. Our generation needs to stop being afraid of love and just embrace it already, whether it be for a significant other, friends, or family members. If you want to be with someone, do something about it, whether it is Valentine's Day or April 25th! As for those who are lucky enough to have someone already, spice up your relationship regularly and don't let them ever question if your love is fading. If you don't want a relationship, invest your love in family and friends and letting them know how much they mean to you. We aren't getting any younger and life moves fast. Don't wait too long to make someone's day, holiday or not.
