So tomorrow is Valentines Day and over the past week I have heard numerous people making comments about how they HATE Valentines day :( The news/media is also on this anti-Vday bandwagon. I wonder why?
Here are the top 5 reason people hate Valentines Day:
1. Its a commercial/capitalistic "holiday" or "Its not a real holiday.. someone made it up, therefore we should not celebrate it! "
2. "I don't have a Valentine"
3. "I don't need to spend money on someone to tell them I love them"
4. "The day is for couples only.. I'm single"
5. "Romance sucks! I don't like people being sappy!"
Lets go through this to dispel some of the myths of Valentines so that everyone can enjoy this special day :)
Check out the History Channel's website.. they have a great write up on the History of Valentines Day . If you don't want to do all that reading.. Basically St. Valentine did not appreciate the decree for Emperor Claudius II (270AD) in which he forbade all the young men to marry, because single men without children made a better crop of soldiers. So St. Valentine secretly wed soldiers until he was caught and executed. Another version of the story states that St. Valentine actually aided Christians in escaping brutality and death by the Romans. Depending on which version of the story you want to believe, St. Valentine was a martyr for love, romance, and justice. The day was not set aside as a holiday until 490AD.
Read up on the spokes person for the holiday,Cupid. Great story about how love conquers all even though we mess things up in our relationships.. true love brings us back together :) There are also some other pegan association with the day that links to fertility and purification.
There is much more to the history of this holiday, but it every story over the ages has a reoccurring theme that presents itself.. LOVE! Love for the oppressed, love for a special person in your life, love for family, love for justice and country. You can't argue with that!
People often are bitter about this holiday (yes, we have already established that this is indeed is a real holiday) because most people are not in a relationship during this time. So what! Get over yourself and stop wallowing in self-pity! Take this opportunity to love yourself! Send flowers to your desk at work, or go get a pedicure, get an extra slice of cheesecake to reward yourself for working hard and paying the bills. No one said this day is for couples only. Love can come in all forms and don't let the media or meddling family members rob you of having special time to reflect and pamper yourself.
And for those religious people who don't like the statement about loving yourself..... you can reflect on the love Christ showed us when he died on the cross for our sins. The greatest love story ever describes the love that Christ has for the pitiful, worthless, sinners that make up the human race. Even in our sinful state he loved us and died for us so that one day we could be reunited with him forever. (Romans 5:8, John 14)
And if the above reasons are not enough.. You can take the day to love on your mother, sister, aunt, godmother, little old lady in your complex or at the nearby retirement center/nursing home. And yes I just listed women, but the day is for men too, they need love :) They might not want a dozen balloons tied to their desk at work, but thy can appreciate a manly Herschy's chocolate bar or white chocolate crunch bar with a note telling them home much you appreciate and cherish their freindship etc.
Now for my socialist friends who are anti-capatalistic and resent the commercialism of holidays in general. I probably should try to be more sensitive to your viewpoint...... but.... I can't! Especially in the current economic status of America we NEED some commercialism. The only thing that will get us out of this recession is going to be the American people spending money. If the people spend > companies make a profit> if there is profit they will increase workers> more workers=more income> more income=more spending .. and vvvvwwwaaaaahhhllllaaaaaa we are out of a recession. Yes, this is an oversimplified scheme, but you get the point. When people get scared of losing everything, they hoard. Spending money on this holiday is like giving to the charity named, "Boost the Economy". Tagline: A portion of the proceeds will go tword re-energizing the economy, creating jobs, and you can bring some happiness to a loved one! Still don't agree?? What?? You don't need to spend money to show your loved one that you care??? YES, you are correct, but what does it hurt (unless u are going in debt to do so)? Everything cost something! Either in actual cost of purchase or by loss of potential income (you taking time off of work). It takes more time and energy to avoid capitalism in America than to actually participate and spread the love around. Valentines day was not created just so you would have to buy conversation hearts and Godiva chocolate! It just so happens that these things are enjoyed by people who celebrate the day. Who cares is NECCO has more profit this year? Have they somehow violated some social contrct? Did they steal your paycheck or garnish wages without your knowledge? You should be thankful people still have jobs and some little girl is happy because her crush thought enough about her to spend his milk money to bring a smile to her face. If I havn't convinced you .. then maybe you should move to another country, maybe a communistic country where everyone is sad because of oppression and you can spend your money buying a bullet proof vest for survival instead of flowers for your mother.
I think I have said enough. I wish everyone a HAPPY VALENTINES DAY! If you are broke.. give 10 people a kiss (Herschy or otherwise) tomorrow and if you got some spare change in your pocket give 12 roses to 12 people who are special to you. Either way spread the love around <3
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOOXOXOXOXOXOXOOX
Here are the top 5 reason people hate Valentines Day:
1. Its a commercial/capitalistic "holiday" or "Its not a real holiday.. someone made it up, therefore we should not celebrate it! "
2. "I don't have a Valentine"
3. "I don't need to spend money on someone to tell them I love them"
4. "The day is for couples only.. I'm single"
5. "Romance sucks! I don't like people being sappy!"
Lets go through this to dispel some of the myths of Valentines so that everyone can enjoy this special day :)
Check out the History Channel's website.. they have a great write up on the History of Valentines Day . If you don't want to do all that reading.. Basically St. Valentine did not appreciate the decree for Emperor Claudius II (270AD) in which he forbade all the young men to marry, because single men without children made a better crop of soldiers. So St. Valentine secretly wed soldiers until he was caught and executed. Another version of the story states that St. Valentine actually aided Christians in escaping brutality and death by the Romans. Depending on which version of the story you want to believe, St. Valentine was a martyr for love, romance, and justice. The day was not set aside as a holiday until 490AD.
Read up on the spokes person for the holiday,Cupid. Great story about how love conquers all even though we mess things up in our relationships.. true love brings us back together :) There are also some other pegan association with the day that links to fertility and purification.
There is much more to the history of this holiday, but it every story over the ages has a reoccurring theme that presents itself.. LOVE! Love for the oppressed, love for a special person in your life, love for family, love for justice and country. You can't argue with that!
People often are bitter about this holiday (yes, we have already established that this is indeed is a real holiday) because most people are not in a relationship during this time. So what! Get over yourself and stop wallowing in self-pity! Take this opportunity to love yourself! Send flowers to your desk at work, or go get a pedicure, get an extra slice of cheesecake to reward yourself for working hard and paying the bills. No one said this day is for couples only. Love can come in all forms and don't let the media or meddling family members rob you of having special time to reflect and pamper yourself.
And for those religious people who don't like the statement about loving yourself..... you can reflect on the love Christ showed us when he died on the cross for our sins. The greatest love story ever describes the love that Christ has for the pitiful, worthless, sinners that make up the human race. Even in our sinful state he loved us and died for us so that one day we could be reunited with him forever. (Romans 5:8, John 14)
And if the above reasons are not enough.. You can take the day to love on your mother, sister, aunt, godmother, little old lady in your complex or at the nearby retirement center/nursing home. And yes I just listed women, but the day is for men too, they need love :) They might not want a dozen balloons tied to their desk at work, but thy can appreciate a manly Herschy's chocolate bar or white chocolate crunch bar with a note telling them home much you appreciate and cherish their freindship etc.
Now for my socialist friends who are anti-capatalistic and resent the commercialism of holidays in general. I probably should try to be more sensitive to your viewpoint...... but.... I can't! Especially in the current economic status of America we NEED some commercialism. The only thing that will get us out of this recession is going to be the American people spending money. If the people spend > companies make a profit> if there is profit they will increase workers> more workers=more income> more income=more spending .. and vvvvwwwaaaaahhhllllaaaaaa we are out of a recession. Yes, this is an oversimplified scheme, but you get the point. When people get scared of losing everything, they hoard. Spending money on this holiday is like giving to the charity named, "Boost the Economy". Tagline: A portion of the proceeds will go tword re-energizing the economy, creating jobs, and you can bring some happiness to a loved one! Still don't agree?? What?? You don't need to spend money to show your loved one that you care??? YES, you are correct, but what does it hurt (unless u are going in debt to do so)? Everything cost something! Either in actual cost of purchase or by loss of potential income (you taking time off of work). It takes more time and energy to avoid capitalism in America than to actually participate and spread the love around. Valentines day was not created just so you would have to buy conversation hearts and Godiva chocolate! It just so happens that these things are enjoyed by people who celebrate the day. Who cares is NECCO has more profit this year? Have they somehow violated some social contrct? Did they steal your paycheck or garnish wages without your knowledge? You should be thankful people still have jobs and some little girl is happy because her crush thought enough about her to spend his milk money to bring a smile to her face. If I havn't convinced you .. then maybe you should move to another country, maybe a communistic country where everyone is sad because of oppression and you can spend your money buying a bullet proof vest for survival instead of flowers for your mother.
I think I have said enough. I wish everyone a HAPPY VALENTINES DAY! If you are broke.. give 10 people a kiss (Herschy or otherwise) tomorrow and if you got some spare change in your pocket give 12 roses to 12 people who are special to you. Either way spread the love around <3
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOOXOXOXOXOXOXOOX
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI agree that people spending money helps the economy, but in some cases (maybe most) people don't have any money to spend. Or they don't have a job. So it is oversimplified (as you also pointed out).
ReplyDeleteValentine's Day is ok, but in its current state (you MUST do something or you hate the one you profess to love) I think it is misguided. Shouldn't I show love to my wife everyday, 24/7...?? I mean, that is the true essence of love (and of the original Valentine)...so we should work on that, rather than making sure that our Valentine's day celebrations are the greatest ever...
That being said...I have probably never missed a Valentine's day...lol.
Ok, so this is not a rewrite and i doubt it will be that long. Personally I do not like Valentines day simply because I am not a holiday person. Also, I do not like the couples but that is another story. But Valentines Day is wack cuz it is too forced and the essence gets lost. I can appreciate the spirit of the day and what it brings ppl. There isn't much that i can disagree about this blog on cuz it covers the gambit.
ReplyDelete