Do we need valentine’s day?

Do you know that St. Valentine actually died on February 14^th? That we have been eating chocolates and exchanging cards to commemorate his hanging?

Do you know how many overprized cards, useless toys and chocolate is bought this day? How many girls are upset cause their boys couldn’t plan anything decent, how many pairs go to the noisy restaurants, where they can’t even hold a decent conversation?

How many stupid romantic comedies are released for this day? How many poor guys have to endure them without vomiting?

So I will sing along with Cher—IS IT WORTH IT?

What did I do for this Valentine’s Day? Hubby and I were in Kiev (in transit from Thailand), saw frozen Dnepr river, drank coffee in the cutest place and he got me beautiful flowers the next day (when we got back home). We held hands and rubbed our noses together. We were disgusting. :-)

When you are caught in a routine, when you prefer to watch Dr. House on a couch instead of clubbing in a sexy outfit, when much of your conversations revolve around your cat, when if he makes dinner you do the dishes and vice versa, you need a shaking up day!

Who cares if it is completely fabricated, if it is commercialized, if some companies get rich by selling us cards and bears?! It gives us the push, the kick in a butt to stand up and do something!

You know what? This collectualistic, ritualistic celebrations are all that we have left from the olden days when our ancestors used to dance around the fire and hoped that the smoke would reach the spirits in the sky. We need days to get us closer, both to each other and to the community. And though some sarcastic, leftist people will make fun of me, I am a part of this world, I am part of humankind, I have no desire to stand aside and live separately from my tribe. Yes, I like to be different, but also, I like the tribal connection. On February 14^th, I like seeing pairs holding hands and to be one myself.

The hubby and I have all kinds of rituals. For example, when he comes home from work, I get our cat and he hugs me and the cat. We also celebrate the day of our 1^st kiss, every month. Some anniversaries even have special names, like the Penguin day. We don’t need a special day to celebrate each other, but having one ensures that at least that day can’t be turned into a mundane we-love-couch. Sometimes I anticipate our kiss day for a week. Cause I know for sure, we won’t ruin it by commonplace practices.

Hence, after all, why shouldn’t we give each other flowers, if we really do like flowers? We don’t need special day to do it, but why can’t we do it on special day too? Sometimes we really do need to have mandatory fun. Otherwise, we won’t have any.

the pic: the postcard pic of hubby and me in thailand, 2 days before the valentine's. expect an exiting update post on that.