Big Up The Love

Valentine's Day is coming up and this is the first year I am actually going to have someone to celebrate it with, but I don't even know what we would do or anything. I have school that day and that night I would probably not be home until 8:30 ish pm! I don't really care what we do, but I seriously hope that if a gift is involved it isn't like chocolate or some other typical thing like that. IDK but I have always kinda seen those chocolates and cards the stores hawk as just a way of lessening the importance behind the original holiday. Valentine's day originated in the Catholic church to honor Saint Valentine....except there are numerous Valentines that were martyred and subsequently sainted. It gots its romantic undertones out of legends about Saint Valentine performing marriage ceremonies under the nose the the Roman emperor (but none of this has been proven) and than from the poet Chaucer. It also began to be celebrated as a holiday for love as a way of getting the pagans to assimilate from the roman religion festivities of Lupercallia (fertility festival) to one more.....saintly.


And we are expected to buy chocolates and flowers and witty cards to somehow proclaim our undying love (once a year mind you) to the person we are (currently) intimately linked to.....yeah something doesn't quite smell right. Now I am just as romantic as the next girl and wouldn't mind something to go down on Valentine's Day (V-Day sounds like an STD awareness thing...), but I am also not one who is easily sated by something you can buy at the local drug store or gas station for under a buck. I would rather spend all night huddled under a blanket looking at the stars than be handed a box of crummy chocolates that I will end up sharing with my family. Call me high maintenance if you will, but I think love means more than that. Love is spending time with someone not out of obligation but out of the pure intentions of your heart. It isn't needing a thousand roses (so cliche) or promises that aren't made to be kept. It's about being there for someone on an emotional, physical, mental, and any other kind of level that is required. Love is friendship and companionship, but it is also a level of intimacy and respect. What makes the difference between a relationship and friendship? I love many of my friends deeply and would do many things for them, but there is a line I would never cross with them. With a significant other though there are levels you reach that draw you closer than any friend.

Valentine's Day is this big pressure to out do your normal levels of loving someone on this one day. I personally think you should try to outdo yourself everyday. Simply being affectionate with your partner at least once a day whether it's saying someone like "I love you" or "You look beautiful/handsome" or it is stopping by their work or leaving them an unexpected note or something simple like that. Those things are what make the relationship stronger. Not some half-assed holiday that the candy, flower, jewelry, and card companies build up every year. Though I do have to say some of the stuff they come out with is pretty nifty....it still is a sham. It's important to maintain a level of intimacy and affection year round...not just whip out the love for special occasions like that fine china people use for Christmas! So this year I encourage everyone to big up the love...but on the daily level. Not just for Valentine's.

Feel free to celebrate though. Hey make it your "Big up the Love" Starting point. Go all out and than try to top it the next day! Good luck everyone!