Wednesday, February 13, 2008

I know I'm a day early, so sue me

I know that Valentine’s Day is one of those contrived festive anniversaries that is designed primarily as a marketing gimmick for manufacturers of cards, chocolates, perfumes, sexy undies and all the other accoutrements designed to let some poor sap declare his ongoing (or new) love and passion for an object of affection. Hopefully he’ll also get lucky thanks to his declaration.

I don’t care about the crass and commercial aspects of Valentine’s Day. I happen to like it.

Anyway, don’t all of our annual events have a commercial nature to them? Christmas, Mother’s Day, birthdays, Chinese New Year – all of them keep the marketing boys happy and at the same time they buoy the economy. That’s not such a bad thing in recessionary (or not) times. Many merchants rely on making 60 to 80 per cent of their annual sales during the Christmas season.

That’s notwithstanding, but I’ll return to my original point about liking Valentine’s Day. I like it because I am a romantic, and the concept of having a day turned over entirely to l’amour sits well with my sensibilities.

I’ve always been a romantic. I love happy endings in movies and stories, and to have somebody wonderfully female declare love and affection for me is worth more than any sum that might come my way. That is, of course, provided I hold tender feelings for her. If I don’t necessarily, but she declares her love anyway, that’s OK, too, because then I am touched and flattered.

The Beatles opined that “all you need is love.” A bit fatuous and simplistic, no doubt, but there is a truth to the premise. It has been suggested that we have two basic motivating forces in life: Faith and fear. Well, faith is an aspect of love. If you have love/faith then you cannot be fearful. If you are fraught with fear, then you cannot love or feel faith. I do believe that to be true.

But, romantic love is one of the finest impulses of all. To me. I love loving and I love being loved. The Valentine, if given in the right spirit, captures just such a feeling.

The world is a screwed up place. Always has been, always will be. But individuals retain a certain nobility that keeps it all going. A big part of that nobility is love.

So, candlelight and wine and soft music and possibly even dancing the horizontal tango; whatever it takes to make your February 14th wonderful is what I wish for you all.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

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16 Comments:

Blogger Jazz said...

Hmmm.. I love loving and being loved too, but I'm by no stretch of the imagination a romantic. Actually V-Day is way too contrived for me, like you're obliged to declare your love then. It comes with so many expectations for so many people - expectations which are often crushed.

I much prefer you tell me you love me any other day of the year.

9:39 AM  
Blogger Sugar. said...

Everyday is Valentines Day in my house (I'm such a lucky girl). The only difference is that on the real Valentines Day, I have to make sure my Little One has enough V-day cards for her class. Plus it's a good excuse to consume copious amounts of chocolate! Happy Valentines Day!! :)

11:35 AM  
Blogger jmb said...

Happy Valentine's day Ian, your love is lucky to have you.

4:07 PM  
Blogger Rositta said...

Happy Valentines Day Ian, may you and your loved one have lots and lots of romance tomorrow and always...ciao

6:35 PM  
Blogger Casdok said...

A very happy Valentines to you and yours. :)

12:19 AM  
Blogger Echomouse said...

Have a very Happy Valentine's Day :)

12:27 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Humph. That's all I have to say this year.

2:40 AM  
Blogger Dumdad said...

Nothing wrong with having a day dedicated to love although the commercialism aspect is a bit cynical.

But Valentines Day sometimes helps the shy to do or say something bold to the love of their lives.

For The Frog Queen, I've made a necklace out of old escargot shells, smeared in garlic. I think she'll go wild!

8:23 AM  
Blogger Tai said...

Happy Valentine's Day, Ian! May it be wonderful and romantic and make your Thursday sing.
:)

8:33 AM  
Blogger Liz Dwyer said...

We can opt out of the commercialism on our own, but in the meantime, it's a nice excuse to eat some chocolate!

9:55 AM  
Blogger heartinsanfrancisco said...

I'm a romantic, too, so the commercialism is annoying but can mostly be ignored. After all, I'm buying into the concept of love, not Hallmark.

A very happy V-Day to you and your lovely one, Ian.

12:07 PM  
Blogger meggie said...

I hope you had a lovely Valentine's Day.

I got told I was lucky, I have Gom, so I didn't need anything else!
He was the one who told me!

1:17 PM  
Blogger Ellee Seymour said...

Happy Valentine's Day to you too, from another romantic.

2:54 PM  
Blogger Spider Girl said...

Happy Valentines, Ian!

10:00 PM  
Blogger geewits said...

That sounds sweet. I hope the roses you picked out were as pretty as the ones I got. You did buy roses?

10:16 PM  
Blogger riseoutofme said...

What about a little jiving or a tootsie foxtrot?

Have a little difficulty keeping the rose between my teeth in the tango.

Hope you had a good day, you oul romantic you!

5:53 AM  

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