This is the time of year where all of the Valentine’s Day naysayers crawl out from their caves and try to put a damper on the most fun, loving days of the year.

Ok, they aren’t in caves. Most of them are reasonable, normal people. But I can’t for the life of me figure out why people hold such hatred for such a fun notion. A day has been set aside to love on people. You have an excuse to celebrate love.

I know, I know. You are thinking “Kristen…the greeting card companies made up this ‘holiday’ so that they can make more money.” That is

I’m ready to celebrate!

probably 100% true. But my answer to that is…..so what?? It’s still a fun thing to do. And also, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but most of what you do is because of some sort of corporate influence on you, whether consciously or subconsciously. So you might as well have some fun with it! Otherwise– keep that same energy with Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, because those are “greeting card holidays”, too.

Then there’s the other excuse of “I don’t need a day to express my love for someone. I love them every day of the year”. Ok, well I love my dad every day of the year, but on Father’s Day I appreciate getting the time to stop and purposefully honor him. It matters.

The one thing I don’t like about Valentine’s is the weight that is sometimes placed on the day. Single women get depressed, partners put pressure on each other for these outrageous gifts, and it can really leave a negative impact. My thought is– let’s not do that to ourselves and each other. Let’s just take this excuse to have some fun and acknowledge the people we love. If you want to make it serious, make it serious. If you want to make it fun, make it fun. But don’t act like you’re making some big statement by not participating. Because we all get what you’re saying, but in the end, we don’t care. Life is hard enough– I’m taking every opportunity I get to celebrate.

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