For the love of the holiday

Like Christmas, Valentine’s Day has always been a holiday that I have not gotten into.
I have never been one of those girls in good enough graces to have a boyfriend this time of the year, so I have traditionally felt that the candy hearts and roses did not pertain to me.

But even without a warm body to cuddle next to on Valentine’s Day, I harbor no animosity about it. In fact, the holiday itself has never fazed me much. I enjoy the complimentary sugar high that comes wrapped in red and pink tinfoil, and instead of filling the vacant hours before sleep with loneliness I go to bed feeling a little nauseous from all the candy.

What I have come to find is that this kind of nonchalance is not a popular emotion during Valentine’s Day.

Instead, there appears to be two camps people fall into this time of the year. Those that have a significant other take this opportunity to adorn themselves in red and pink and bask in the happiness of having a relationship.

The other group can easily be spotted dressed all in black, painfully sulking in their loneliness at anti-Valentine’s Day parties. Finding empathy for either, I avoid wearing red or black for the first part of the month and try to keep away from conversations pertaining to the infamous V-Day.

Unfortunately, no matter how much I try to disengage myself from the topic, the message inevitably reaches me via the media.

Suddenly, every commercial, sitcom and drama is saturated in the theme of hearts and roses and romance. Even though I have no misgivings about my single status on Facebook, the constant repetition of loneliness being solved by a diamond ring would get to anyone.

But I have found that once I turn off the television, Valentine’s Day is actually a pleasant holiday. It is an opportunity to give and receive gifts in creative media and playfully share your compassion for others. When taken out of the manufactured context of Hallmark, Valentine’s Day is a different beast altogether.

It in fact has little to do with taking someone out to a fancy dinner so that they might sleep with you at the end of the night. The holiday (like most in America) is just another excuse to spend the day with those that you love, regardless of whether or not you’re getting laid.

What was best about the atmosphere surrounding the impact of the day was the upbeat demeanor of those in the target of Valentine’s Day.

While traditionally friendly folk, these people suddenly had plastered smiles on their face, excited about the future because what it had in store for them was love.

And while my cynicism can hardly sympathize with that kind of attitude, I do find myself uplifted by it.