The Non-Existance Of Valentine's Day: The Mother Of All Non-Holidays

The pain of Valentine's Day is less than a fortnight away.

It is an aesthetically pleasing day, during which romanticism grips the hearts of all those citizens who long for companionship. Yet I would argue that a lot of it is very false, driven by capitalism, commerce, big business and

It seems to me that it is usually this time of year all the advertisements for Valentine's Day related merchandise appear on our billboards televisions and in our print media. Around about now, the mind of lonely singles, which cry Dear Miss Lonelyhearts for 11 and a half months a year, are whipped up into a frenzy of irrational hopefulness. The feelings that people come across are not authentic. The feelings people feel are, more often than not, driven by the commercials. "My God!" the stranger thinks, "Valentine's Day is approaching! For whom shall I save my rose this year?"

'For whom shall I save my rose this year?' At this time of the year loneliness, fanned by the flames of commercialisation of our society, makes people feel feelings they wouldn't usually be driven to feeling at any other time of the year. People are forced into looking into close friendships with greater depth than they normally would, pushed on by the 'Valentine's Day is coming!' notion.

This is, we must remind ourselves, a holiday void of any religious foundation. Therefore the commercialised transformation of Valentine's Day can happen a lot easier than, say, Easter, for example.

Furthermore, in a celebrity-centric society, where the glorification of the global superstar is achieved through tabloid newspapers (especially here in the United Kingdom) and tabloid magazines (both here in the United Kingdom and in the United States), a great many people look to the celebrities for Valentine's Day inspiration and gossip. What they do is hold up a mark of excellence for the rest to follow. But sadly what they do is often underpinned by spending copious amounts of money to 'show their love' for their celebrity partner.

Hmmm, interesting, Since about 1985, I would argue, the celebrities have created an unbreakable bond between the value of the dollar and love. It is the creation of the notion that it is only possible to show you love someone a lot by spending a lot of money. People are happy spending money they don't have to show their 'love' -- no, too stronger word -- to show their admiration for someone, but, as explained above, that admiration is not authentic, as it is driven by companies looking to make a quick buck out of people's emotions, and by whipping them up into a frenzy.

True love is not inspired by commercials. Of any kind. Ever.

Yours, wherever you may be,
Daniel C. Wright