Ahhh, sweet February 14th... Just oozing 'wuv' and 'CONSUMERISM'... ;) Luc and I have decided that we are not going to fall prey to the whole Valentines Day brainwashing that the media and retail stores inflict upon us all every year. If you think about it, who have you heard say anything about Valentines Day recently? Bet you saw it in a shop window, in an ad on TV, or maybe the morning news had a segment on 'better not forget to buy those roses' like mine did this morning. I bet you didn't hear coworkers, friends and family going around excitedly whispering their plans to surprise their loved one(s) with some expensive 'sweet nothings'. Why? Because, as I see it, no one really looks forward to Valentines Day. At least not for the sake of the day itself. Sure, people look forward to the gifts that guilt-stricken, peer-pressured partners buy for them, but only because the media works it up to be 'if you receive gifts, and thus are in a relationship, you are a member of some 'elite' group of people' which is of course total BS. As far as I'm concerned, it's not any more special than any other day. Infact, those days where you spontaneously do something nice for someone rank far higher on the scale of importance than all those Feb. 14ths where you went running into the nearest Laura Secord at lunch time to join the mile-long line-up of people who are all scrambling to get something, anything to avoid the 'You forgot! You must not care about me!' episode... I figure that doing anything on V-Day because you 'have to', really undoes any meaning behind the gesture(s).
That's not to say that showing your loved one that you care for them on any given day (including V-Day) is a bad thing. Infact, I did buy some home-made chocolates for us to share, but the proceeds help the Alzheimer's society. We will probably make dinner together too (but we do that often), and maybe watch a movie. I think that, handled properly, V-Day can serve as a special day where you take time out of your busy schedules to celebrate and acknowledge all the special people in your life. With that in mind, making a meal together, listening to a favorite cd together, maybe taking a walk or going to a movie together, in a sense, giving the gift of TIME (which is the most precious of our resources) over some tacky diamond-'whatever' is the best way to both really get something out of the day. If you want to give something tangeable, do the dishes and let your loved one curl up on the couch for an hour, or make them a card (don't let Hallmark do the talking for you). Either way, I'm glad that Luc and I share the same viewpoint about this day. No stress here! ;)