I Believe In A Thing Called Love

I wrote this last year, but I'm rather proud of it, so here it is again.

As everyone is (some would say painfully) aware, today is Valentine's Day.  Today is, most likely depending on your relationship status, either a wonderful, love-filled day to go above and beyond for the person(s) you care about or a stupid holiday created by evil greeting card companies in an appalling attempt to make money and promote gross materialism.  I don't know the exact history of today.  Maybe it was invented by Hallmark and jewelry companies.  I don't care though.  The truth, my friends, is that today is a wonderful, love-filled day to go above and beyond for the person(s) you care about.

Spoiler: going "above & beyond" does not mean buying stuff that looks like this

I promise that Valentine's Day is not out to get you.  It does not exist solely to make single people feel like crap.  I'll bet, at this point, at least some of you are thinking the other tired argument against Valentine's Day: people should express their love for their significant others every day, so this holiday is pointless.  That probably bothers me the most because it's so ridiculous.  That's like saying "You should appreciate your parents every day, so let's lose Mother's Day and Father's Day" or "You should be thankful for what you have all the time, so we don't need Thanksgiving."   Valentine's Day is a celebration of love.  It's there to be an exaggeration of your everyday feelings.  I'm always proud to be Irish, but I wear more green and drink more Guinness on March 17th.  I have dreams and goals that I come up with and implement all year round, but I make a list and toast it with champagne and friends on December 31st.  Holidays are the time to make the grand declaration, to give something we live with every day a little pomp and circumstance.  You know what?  Love is such a remarkable thing that it's definitely worth a little pomp and circumstance.

This concept of "wuv" confuses and infuriates us!

 Even if you aren't attached to anyone, you can still have a good time today.  Find some other unattached people and go out to dinner.  Or stay in and watch a movie.  Or go to a bar and toast your friendship.  That's a relationship worth recognizing today.

If you still haven't been swayed by the importance and, indeed, loveliness of today, I urge you to please shut the hell up about it.  If you are bent on being miserable, if you refuse to see an upside to a holiday about the joy people can bring to each other's lives, then that's your failing, not society's.  Furthermore, just remember, if you try to rain on our parade...

...people in love will always sing in the rain.

Happy Valentine's Day!