Today is Valentine’s Day, a holiday when we gather together with our special someone and celebrate our love and affection for each other. But there’s more to the holiday than roses, candy and a special meal.
Day of love
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Today is Valentine’s Day, a holiday when we gather together with our special someone and celebrate our love and affection for each other. But there’s more to the holiday than roses, candy and a special meal.
There are several myths that detail the origin of Valentine’s Day. They range from a priest defying a decree by Caesar II to a man sending love notes to his forbidden lover to a pagan holiday celebrating the Roman god of fertility.
No one can know for sure the exact origin of the holiday, but here’s the one I find most romantic.
In A.D. 270, Caesar found that young men made better soldiers for the empire when they were single—so he decreed that no young men should be allowed to marry. A lowly priest named Valentinus felt that this was immoral and against his god’s teachings, so he decided to continue performing marriage ceremonies in secret.
When he was discovered, he was immediately put to death for his defiance. But this priest’s legacy would continue. Other priests followed his lead and continued the practice of performing marriages. Eventually, the decree was allowed to die out.
This story is so romantic because not only did Valentinus defy his government, he did it selflessly and in full knowledge of the consequences should he be discovered.
As time went on, the holiday became less about the saint and more about what he stood for: Love should never be constrained or impeded by law. This manifested itself in many different ways, most notably in the form of the Valentine’s Day card.
It’s believed that the first Valentine note was exchanged between Charles, Duke of Orleans, and his wife, during his internment in the Tower of London. The practice of exchanging cards, however, did not become commonplace until after printing methods allowed for mass production.
As the practice of exchanging cards became more commonplace, society saw the rise of the commercialism of the holiday. Now it’s the second highest card-sending holiday after Christmas, according to History.com And the National Retail Federation estimates Valentines Day Spending will be in the ballpark of $18.6 billion
Instead of remembering that the holiday is about celebrating love and affection, we feel intense social pressure to spend large amounts of money on gifts, tokens and other baubles.
Instead of feeling grateful that we have someone to share our affection with, Valentine’s Day has turned into a day when being alone (without a date) is unacceptable. We dismiss those who are alone as social pariahs, unworthy of our attention.
This Valentine’s Day, I want you to remember that the holiday is not about celebrating a lover, but rather about celebrating love itself, the love of family, friends and—if you are lucky enough—a special someone.
Remember the true origins of the holiday: Love is to be celebrated and enjoyed. It doesn’t matter with whom you spend it, enjoy the day as you celebrate love and romance.
