Just in time for Valentine's Day... The perfect gift mayhaps?
Call me cynical, call me a Debbie-downer, call me what you like. I may be jaded, having lived through my fair share of toads that never turned into a prince, but I just find it highly humorous and ironic that we celebrate the martyring of a saint with such commercialism.
What would St. Valentine think of the current state of affairs if he was still around? Would he be pleased that the whole of the holiday has been so watered down and that all that has come to symbolize it is a fat man with wings, wearing a diaper and shooting magic arrows of love at them? Or paper cut-outs of hearts, doves, and X’s & O’s?
I don’t know, but I do know that with the eminent holiday looming over the heads of the world’s populace, the pressure is on – to get the reservation at the right restaurant, the right flowers, the right gifts….yaddi yadda. This stress-fest feels like a coronary or aneurysm waiting to happen.
Please, make no mistake – I am a romantic. A hopeless one at that. Just not on Valentine’s Day. It’s too cliche, too over-done, and far too fake feeling for me. To have one day set aside to pull out all the romance stops seems a horrible way to express ones love for another. Love should be spontaneous, exciting, from the heart. Showings of love and affection should not be expected at all – they should pop up out of the blue and sideswipe you with their random perfection and wonderfulness.
