Like so many holidays in the United States, Valentine’s Day has become an orgy of consumerism.

If it celebrates anything with any sincerity, it’s probably cheap chocolate, not love.

Comedian Jim Gaffigan agrees with me here:

~Just like Gaffigan though, I may rail against the rampant consumerism of this holiday (and others), but as someone in a relationship with a person I profoundly love, I still have to do something. I have to commemorate the day somehow, and not because my significant other is such a holiday-crazy fella (the opposite in fact).

I have to mark the day because just as it’s a bad sign for the relationship if Valentine’s day is the only day you think to express your love, if Valentine’s day is the only day you choose not to show it, it can be hurtful as well.

Holidays, even for the people who kind of hate them, can be vulnerable times.

Mother’s Day can be hard for those who have lost a mother, or who have a broken relationship there, especially when they are bombarded with images of happy mother-child relationships. The same can happen on Valentine’s Day. It’s an easy day to feel like crap, because everyone wants love, and even the ones who have it usually don’t have it in that “perfect” Hallmark-card kind of way.

So, I’m going to try not to let my sometimes cynical anti-consumerist heart ruin the day for everyone. Love should be an everyday thing, even on the days when it feels like a parody of itself. Maybe we don’t need to ditch Valentine’s Day altogether, we just need to inject a little more reality into its sugar-coated candy heart.

So, let’s celebrate the darn thing, but let’s keep it real. Keep it genuine.

I try to tell my partner that he is loved every day, and I’ll do the same on Valentine’s Day. And maybe I’ll add a nice bottle of wine…or on second thought maybe whiskey.

 

Relephant:

What I Will & Won’t do on Valentine’s Day. (& Everyday.)

 

Author: Kathryn Muyskens

Editor: Travis May

Photo: YouTube Still