Like the Kardashians, Marmite and The Lord of the Rings, ‘Valentine’s Day’ falls into the love it or hate it category. The haters are generally stereotyped as being bitter singletons who resent the yearly reminder of the fact they have no significant other, using the excuse of thinking the day ‘superficial’ to avoid owning up to their reality.
But when we really think about 14th February, what’s the verdict?
Is it a silly day that boosts couples’ esteem and gives shops another opportunity to make more money? Or is it something that means a little bit more, like Christmas? If you took away the chocolates, the hearts and cards, the flowers and gifts, the fancy dinner reservations and surprise couple getaways, would Valentine’s Day remain a significant day in our calendar?
The origins are anything but superficial, with Saint Valentine risking his life by secretly marrying soldiers to their loved ones, despite Emperor Claudius II forbidding it. The power of love for Valentine overcame the natural human instinct to preserve his life, his actions resulting in a rather gloomy sentencing to death when he was unfortunately caught out. Now what could be more pure and romantic than the idea of dying for the sake of love? Superficial? I don’t think so.
But, then again, just like everything pure and authentic, the media and profit-organisations couldn’t resist the chance to come along and commercialise poor Valentine’s death. The total amount of cards being sold each year now stands at 1 billion, with shops even selling romantic themed gifts for pets…
Ok, so it’s a money-maker, we can’t deny that. But does the superficial wrapping ruin the romance concealed within?
I don’t think there’s anything in the world that we can take and not taint with our need to make money. Yet, truly authentic and beautiful things cannot actually be ruined by this constant human greed. Love is simply stronger – a child making his mother a hand-made card, an elderly couple taking a walk hand-in-hand through the park, somebody finally plucking up the courage to profess their love to another, all in the name of Valentine’s Day.
Now, I’m not loved-up or planning to spend 14th February with a special someone, but what I can tell you is that I won’t be approaching this day with disdain or resentment, even when I do walk past the stacks of over-priced heart shaped chocolates in shop windows or the giant teddy bears with balloons attached to their feet. That’s not because I don’t recognise superficiality and money-making schemes when I see them; it is simply because I see Valentine’s Day as much more than what the shops can give me. We need to turn our heads away from the commercialism that’s thrust in our faces all the time, and look at people. We ourselves, are the true reflection of what this day means – just do a Hugh Grant and go to the arrivals gate at Heathrow airport.
In the name of Saint Valentine, it is about celebrating love and the freedom to follow your heart; it is concerned with sacrifice and patience, trust and compassion. And for all the cynics out there, “If you look for it, I’ve got a sneaky feeling you’ll find that love actually is all around”.