Let’s get something straight, I’m only a fan of Valentine’s Day when I’m in a relationship (to date this has happened a grand total of two times). For a die hard romantics, this is somewhat of a struggle. I like the idea of valentines. That is, sending an anonymous card or gift to someone asking them to be your valentine. I think it is very sweet. I also like the idea of having someone you care about showing you how much they care about you. I don’t think it’s something that needs to be heralded in by trumpets or splashed across the front page of the newspaper. Romance, for me, is about being swept off your feet. It’s not about the telling of the sweeping to anyone with half an ear.
Western society has taken commercialization just about as far as it can go. Shops have sales and specials to mark evry occasion known to man, and when they’re done they just seem to make them up. Merchandise for the various holidays and events throughout the year is ridiculous, with the pencils and toys and lollies and books and cards and balloons and underwear all shouting out, “look, I remembered, aren’t I wonderful?” In reality, I don’t need all those things. In fact, I don’t need any. All I want for Valentine’s Day is for someone to say, “I Love You.”
Don’t get the wrong impression. I am not against people giving their loved ones presents. I am just fundamentally jealous of the fact that they’ve found someone and I haven’t. I also feel like it’s being rubbed in my face, usually not deliberately but it’s still there, that feeling like all those people are parading around like five year olds and showing off how tremendously loved they are.
There is also the commercial pressure saying, “if you really love your girlfriend/boyfriend/husband/wife/partner then you’ll buy them this incredibly expensive item that they don’t really need.” Nothing says I love you like a 14 carat diamond ring, does it? I mean, really, what happened to a moonlit stroll along the beach or a candlelit dinner.
The same thing goes for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Easter, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Christmas and New Year. They have all lost that spirit that makes them special. They have become over-commercialised and cheap. It’s no longer good enough for kids to make their parents a present, it now has to be something the other parent has to spend a fortune on.
Easter and Christmas have veered so far away from the religious traditions that if you ask most kids what the meaning of christmas is they’ll say “getting presents” or “Santa Claus”. I know we live in a multi-cultural society but what other religion would allow the non-believers to co-opt their significant festivals. Living in a western, predominantly Christian society, it beggars belief that the people who move here from other countries and cultures have the nerve to demand that Christmas and Easter celebrations be watered down and have the Christian elements of these holidays removed. If a westerner went to a predominantly muslim society and demanded that they make ramadam more friendly to non-islamic citizens, they’d either be laughed at or run out of town. Likewise, if the Jewish community were not allowed to celebrate Hannuka in it’s traditional way it would be classified as anti-semitic (and rightly so). So why is it ok to railroad Christian traditions?
The point I am trying to make is that by trying to sell festivals and holidays to a wider market you run the risk of loosing the meaning behind the festival or holiday. If you celebrate Christmas, do so for the right reasons, not just to get a present. If you’re not Christian, by all means celebrate the Christmas period but don’t deny the reason why the holiday exists in the first place. Just because you believe in a different God doesn’t give you the right to impose it on someone else. If you want to celebrate Valentine’s Day, that’s awesome but St Valentine is the patron saint of lovers, not crass commercialisation, so show your loved one how much you love them in a heartfelt way, by telling them you love them.
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