Now, for what it's worth, I actually enjoy Valentine's Day most of the time. I think it's a wonderful idea to celebrate love in all of its forms, not to mention 90% off the price of candy come February 15th. With hearts day fast approaching, a lot of thoughts have raced through my mind about love.
I just finished reading the most recent book in the Pirates! series, entitled "The Pirates! In an Adventure with the Romantics", which was the main instigator in turning my thoughts toward the upcoming holiday. Great book, and though I mainly enjoy the series for its light-hearted content and humor, for once I actually found myself relating to the Pirate Captain. He, of all people, finds himself falling in love with Mary, who is already betrothed to Percy Shelley! Still, the Pirate Captain tries to pursue her, especially upon finding out that she is just as smitten with him as he is with her. Ultimately, he comes to his own self-realization about love and relationships, thoughts that I have felt time and time again. It's fascinating to see my thoughts manifested in written word, regardless of how satirical they appear at first glance.I have heard way too many people gripe about how awful it is to be single on Valentine's Day. To everyone who feels this way, I say phooey! (And I'm quite surprised that spell check did not call me out on misspelling "phooey"; I guess I spelled it right!)
Let me shed some light on what others view as a seemingly dreadful situation. I only recall one Valentine's Day off the top of my head when I have not been single. Frankly, I prefer the single life on Valentine's Day: much less pressure, and many more options. To elaborate:
Valentine's Day for the Single:
Who: You and a friend, a group of friends, a hot prospect, random strangers, family, anyone really!
What: The movies, concerts, sports games, hiking, shopping, the gym, restaurants, Disneyland, anything!
Where: Anywhere you want!
Why: Because you can!
Valentine's Day for the Non-Single:
Who: You and your male/female significant other
What: Whatever he/she wants
Where: Wherever he/she tells you
Why: Because if you don't, he/she won't talk to you for a month and/or will dump you
Rest assured, single friends, your Valentine's Day does not have to be a dismal one. Plus, it's a good excuse to go out instead of sitting at home with a pint of ice cream and a marathon of lame chick flicks. (And for my non-single friends, only one of whom I think actually reads my blog, please do not take my words too seriously. Being in a relationship is pretty awesome in a lot of ways too.)
Now, I have found recently that many of my guy friends are trying to get me married off. I can justify the reasoning for one of them, since we have an ongoing bet as to who will be married first. For the other guys, I can only guess that they must be tired of hanging out with me and are trying to pawn me off. I know that there is someone out there for everyone, and not just necessarily ONE someone either. In my case, maybe I'll find him in this life, or maybe we will be joined together in the next. (If the latter is to happen, I would be especially partial to be with someone who died during WWII -- perhaps in the Army to please my late grandfather.) I can very well say the same for any one of my current single friends: there is someone out there for you, and if you haven't found this person already, you will.
All right, I think I reached my sappiness quota for tonight. (And "sappiness" is approved by spell check also, who knew?)
