There are a lot of reasons why I don't like Valentine's Day.

First, it's just another excuse to spend money that I don't really have. If you're doing what everyone thinks you're "supposed" to be doing, then you're buying cards and flowers and chocolates and candies and an expensive night out - and Christmas is still a fresh memory to my bank account that hasn't quite recovered enough to be hit so hard so soon!

The timing isn't great for other reasons, too. You're supposed to commemorate the "holiday" by going out, but for many people in the world this is the snowiest month of the year! I can recall many Valentine's Days that have been covered in inches/feet of snow - and this year is no exception...

Plus, do we really need a day dedicated to reminding us that we need to love and appreciate our "special someone?" If this is really the case, then I'm not sure how long we'll have to worry about being in a relationship anyway - after all, if we can't remember them on this day, then what are we doing the other 364 days of the year?

Also, does anyone even know who St. Valentine is? With a little research (wikipedia-style), I was able to find that there are up to three different figures whom the day may be named after: a priest, a bishop and a martyr. Interestingly, early transcripts mentioning St. Valentine make no mention of "from your Valentine" as modern folk-lore suggests and in 1969 the church actually dropped this feast day from it's calendar in an effort to remove saints that are of a purely legendary origin. Why do we still celebrate?

Finally, the biggest reason I'm not a fan of Valentine's Day is because it's not a reflection of everyone's love. I went to Hallmark earlier this week to look at the cards.  There were plenty of drawings of cuddly bears, photos of hugging children and even a few images of scantly clad people intending to entice their valentine to something that won't fit in an envelope... but all of the drawings, photos, etc. featured heterosexual love. There wasn't one card that depicted a same-sex couple in any form!

This oversight might seem like nothing to most, and maybe I am being sensitive, but it's just one more confirmation that there's something people just don't like about gay love.  Sure, I probably could have found a gay-themed valentine card if I'd gone to an adult bookstore, but I don't shop there and is the message I'm to get that that's the only place my love is acceptable?

The result is that a lot of flowers won't be sent because a partner doesn't want people at work to know he's gay, and there are many couples who will be eating in because they don't want to feel like the whole restaurant is staring at them on this "hallowed" night of love. And just like last year, a large body of people will pretend once more that it doesn't hurt that they aren't allowed to publicly share their love the way everyone else gets to.

Happy Valentine's Day.

I still feel the same way, but before you get all "Bah Humbug!" on me, let me qualify that although I don't like Valentine's Day per se, I do appreciate the sentiment of love.  I think that's why I don't like the holiday - I don't want such an amazing thing like love to be commercialized and undue pressure to be added because we're trying to create "love" so that it looks like everyone's expectation.  I guess my love won't meet a lot of expectations by default...

And while we're on the subject, it's true that I'm single but I'm like so many others out there who are looking for love.  I'm looking for real love - not what Hallmark wants me to think it should be or what Hollywood shows me it should look like but love that's based on friendship and that's going to stand the test of time.  I'm not going to go into much more detail here because frankly, it's not really for public consumption... but I'm keeping my eyes open and I'm praying daily for the partner that I know is out there.

... and if it's you - we should talk!