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I’ve been thinking about love lately. Maybe because I have this weird habit of turning on the soft rock station whenever I’m driving long lengths of time at night, and I’ve recently been taking a lot of those long drives with Bryan Adams as my co-pilot. Also, Valentine’s Day is right around the proverbial corner, and every year during this time, my brain gets inundated with a myriad of loud opinions concerning the greatness/awfulness of the holiday.

I spent some time hating Valentine’s Day. I’ll freely admit that. Many years ago, I had the exquisite experience of breaking up with a very important person the day before, and for years afterward, V-Day was synonymous with a horrible sensation of failure and loneliness. If you tried to talk to me about the holiday during that time, I would throw something at you and then walk away. There would be no discussion. Valentine’s Day sucked.

My feelings on the holiday are a little different now; namely, I’m undecided. I’m not the biggest Valentine’s Day cheerleader, but I don’t spend the entire 24 hours walking under a black cloud of misery, either. The friends who hate the day want me to make a big deal out of their hate with them, find anti-Valentine’s Day bars or laugh at couples who end the night in a screaming match. The friends who are coupled want me to understand why it’s so perfect, a day where their partner has to show their appreciation, romance, expensive things, and mix tapes. Each side wants me to join, but I can’t.

It may have something to do with the fact that to me, love is not an emotion that can be reserved for special days or people. I fall in love often; with ideas, foods, beliefs, and yes, even strangers. America’s preoccupation with Valentine’s Day makes me wonder; what are we thinking about the other 364 days of the year?

Are we using the day as an excuse? A way to make up for a relationship we’ve let slip into something resembling roommates with the occasional benefit? Is Valentine’s Day a way to prove that we value our partner more than anyone else…and is that even a good thing? And what about the people who vehemently hate the day? What are they doing to themselves, and why do they feel the need to add an extra dollop of hurt to a heart that’s obviously already suffering?

Maybe the day is nothing more than a shared illusion, brought on by the manufacturers of cheap, chemically-enhanced candy and Hallmark?

Tell me, dear readers, what do you think about Valentine’s Day? Do you celebrate it? Do you politely ignore it? Or do you wish you could just take a bat to it and beat it senseless?

[Photo by ||!prliignore0||]