Valentine’s Day can be many things, depending on who you ask. It can be a day filled with romance, sweetness and love-making if taken from the perspective of people who have a significant other. Or it can be full of loathing and bitterness and anger and despair and existential cris… oh you get the point.
What’s certain is Valentine’s Day can be an incredibly insufferable day, thanks in no small part to the freaking internet. Like in other facets of life, the internet makes things easier, but it can also magnify the crap-tastic parts of things.
Watching couples do their couple things online during Valentine’s Day can be a fun thing to do, an “event” of sorts that may restore your faith in love and humanity. It can also serve as reminder to a person that they are alone with no one to do mushy things with, and in turn, can cause severe sadness and hopelessness.
The internet is also an avenue for the more bitter ones to air their grievances for the so-called Day of Love. Armed with lines like “Walang forever!” or “You’ll break up eventually!!!” (please, don’t be the dick that says this), there are people who make sure you know they are not happy with Valentine’s Day.
This is what the internet does. It showcases and highlights the best and worst aspects of things. It is an unfortunate byproduct of something… anything, really, that helps modern life easier to live.
This is not exactly how I wanted to write this post, but I’ve said my piece. I would like to end this by being preachy and reminding everyone that Valentine’s Day isn’t the only day where people are supposed to celebrate love — in all its forms — and showing to others what they mean. No, loving is meant to be a daily activity. Again, this goes for love in all its forms and not just the romantic type that pops in our minds whenever we hear the word.
Remember, whilst it is nice that we have a day to be extra romantic and loving, Valentine’s Day is just a socially constructed pseudo-holiday attributed to some brutally murdered saint and has been subjected to extreme exploitation by capitalist entities hoping to cash in on people’s feelings.
The point being, Valentine’s Day just wants you to spend on material things to show your love whereas loving everyday and showing you mean it can be free of charge. It just depends on one’s creativity.
P.S., if you can’t deal with all the mushy stuff, just get off the internet for a day. Sheesh.
Now go love somebody, you animal.
patrickkennan.com 