Love should be expressed every day
Love — it is one of the most beautiful, positive feelings we will ever experience in our lives. It is uplifting, comforting and something for us to believe in. One holiday which celebrates love above all else is, of course, Valentine’s Day.
It is twenty-four hours of mushy, sappy, yet sweet love posts clogging up my social media feeds. It is a day when people hope for and expect flowers, stuffed animals, candy and dinner or movie dates. All of our expressions of love are wrapped up into one giant, overly commercialized, pointless holiday. It puts too much pressure on people on this day. We should show our love everyday.
Let me give you a quick run-down on the history of Valentine’s Day. Historians have not been able to completely trace its origins, but they believe it started with a Roman festival called Lupercalia, which celebrated the fertility of women for the next calendar year.
It is believed the festival occurred in today’s calendar month of February. Though there have been many St. Valentine’s in catholic history, the holiday has been traced back to one during Emperor Claudius II’s reign. Claudius wanted to keep his soldiers from getting homesick for their families and therefore, he banned marriages.
Father Valentine, a Catholic priest who believed strongly in the sacrament of marriage, secretly wed couples behind the backs of government officials. He was eventually caught and thrown in jail to be executed on Feb. 14. It is believed that some of the couples he had joined in marriage came to visit him, bringing him notes and dropping them through the barred window of the cell.
He fell in love with the emperor’s daughter and slipped her a note on the morning of his execution. He signed the note, “From Your Valentine.”
This leads us to believe that this was the start of sharing love notes, now known as what we call Valentines, on Feb. 14 each year. Pope Gelasius then declared the day St. Valentine’s Day.
Considering this, we have taken advantage of such a beautiful, romantic act of love and blown it completely out of proportion. I have never been a big fan of Valentine’s Day and still am not, because I believe that it has become too commercialized.
It also puts too much pressure on those who are in relationships because they are expected to pick out the perfect gift for their significant other.
The origins of the holiday have been lost. The cute little love notes that allow us to express our true feelings toward someone are no longer a priority. These acts of love should be carried out at random times of the year when they are a surprise and will be more memorable and meaningful to the other person.
Knowing the history behind a holiday you choose to observe is important — it teaches us about what we are celebrating and how we are meant to celebrate it.
