What have you done for me lately?

When it comes to Valentine’s Day, our society has long been split into two opposing categories – those that both adore and cherish this holiday celebration of love and lovers, and those that have better things to do on just another day in our calendar year. And not surprisingly, our society is also composed of two opposing groups we refer to as optimists and pessimists that may have more influence on our attitudes toward Valentine’s Day than our actual sentiment toward the significant other that may or may not exist in our lives. As such, the argument of whether there is the necessity of a designated calendar date to celebrate romantic love is rather futile.

For many, the case is that our society has turned Valentine’s Day into a marketable product (much like everything else) in our vast consumer-targeted industry. Yet aside from that, is it wrong to take time to dedicate attention to those in our lives even if for merely a day? Pessimists would argue that we ought to be celebrating love as long as we have air to breathe each day of our lives. In spite of that, whether we choose to acknowledge Valentine’s Day at all, is it necessary for anyone to speak out against a holiday that conjures so much fervor and so much delight in our nation? The point being just because individuals celebrate Valentine’s Day it is not automatically indicative that he or she is as cold as a fish the remainder of the year!

And then there are those in our society who are a tad overzealous when it comes to this well-established holiday; they could book a hundred dollar reservation at a local IHOP just to celebrate the occasion. Ironically, these individuals are the ones that have been thinking about Valentine’s Day a bit too much and at the same time, not enough. It is ever too often that we are blinded by commercialism to the true essence of the holiday – loving affection. Evidently our nation has equivocated this with chocolates and heart-decorated boxers.

Where has our creativity gone?! The compromise between pessimists and optimists is simple. For the sake of those who so detest the marketability of Valentine’s Day, myself included but to a lesser extent, must we continue to buy chocolates and boxers year-after-year to celebrate our love? Perhaps if we each expand our creativity, we may find better methods of expressing affection for the ones we care about that won’t lead to a colossal mark-up in the price of a dozen roses and the maddening distribution of the colors red and pink all across the nation. Predictability is hardly romantic.

And though, like most other women, I do love the sweet sensation of milk chocolate melting in my mouth and find it difficult to turn down in the weakness of my femininity, chocolate doesn’t sum up my feelings toward the love of my life. Chocolate doesn’t even come near, nor does a bouquet of flowers express what souls often find nearly impossible themselves to express.

Nor is chocolate the only thing women happen to love in their lives, for we each are individuals, and each with separate passions, ambitions, needs and splendors that extend beyond the satisfaction that can be derived from chocolate or flowers. Then what makes for an appropriate Valentine’s celebration? Quite frankly, it depends on how you feel.