A few weeks ago I heard someone suggest that rather than having one day a year to celebrate love, we should have one day a year to celebrate hate, or at least to liberate ourselves from the oppression of that ugly emotion. I laughed at first, but upon further thought I decided that the idea of making hate the one-day exception, and love the rule was not such a bad idea after all. Unfortunately, I am not so optimistic as to believe that is possible. I do not think love is the default in the settings of human emotions.I think we need a day focused on love and I am determined to take advantage of the opportunity this holiday provides. After the attitude of benevolence which so pervades the Christmas season, wears off and we all settle in to wait out the doldrums of winter, we need Valentine's Day to shake us out of our selfish hibernation.
I am going to to credit my Philosophy class with opening my eyes to the possiblities here. In my St. Augustine class we've been talking about how love is one of the greatest goods, however, when directed toward the wrong things/people it loses its value. We've discussed the various types of love, unfortunately Augustine had a little problem with focusing his love, a lustful type of love, on women, multiple women, hence his famous line 'give me chastity, but not yet'. (If he looks confused, it's because he clearly was.)
His 'love' was slightly misguided and I see Valentine's Day as perpetuating a similar problem. Valentine's Day focuses too narrowly on one kind of love. So what have I decided to do? I'm expanding my Valentine's Day horizons. From this point forward, the day of love is no longer just a holiday about receiving flowers or chocolates from anything male that speaks, but about love in all it's forms. I'm evolving my Valentine's-Day-love-thoughts from the narrowness of the Supremes to the broader ideals of the Beatles. I am going to take this Valentine's Day as a positive opportunity to express how I feel to people who matter to me and to show love to people who need it. I will not be making a blanket statement of love to anyone who reads this post, but I look forward to this Valentine's Day as an opportunty for growth and an opportunity to avoid the bitterness associated with the day also known as Singles' Awareness Day.
5 comments:
Jenn you're awesome. You've come along way I think and I'm glad you don't hate Valentines Day. I admit, it has never been my favorite but I'm going to look at it with a more positive attitude now. Thank you for finally posting part II. I appriciate it:) love you, see ya when you wake up in a few hours.
When I was younger, I recall getting valentines from my Grandmother and a 'secret admirer'...which, to my chagrin, turned out to be my Mom...
At the time I remember being somewhat embarrassed and bothered. Looking back now, it's a fond memory of two people who seem to have come to the same conclusion you have.
Aww! I love this thought. And I love working with you. You're great. Thanks for sharing!
Jen, you are amazing!! I love the way your mind works and you really should write a book or a newspaper column or something because you have such a wonderful way of saying things!!!
I too do not think of Valentines Day as a romantic holiday...........Your take on it is totally perfect :)
I agree with Carrie. You need to have your own column in a newspaper. I would totally buy the paper just to read your column.
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