Valentine’s Day-the one day of the year when shades of pink, red, and purple overpower everything else. Fuzzy bears, candy hearts, flowers, and romance-the whole mushy nine yards come to mind. Every Valentine’s Day, we are obligated to be ultra-romantic toward our significant others and extra-nice to those that we care about. But who says that we must be given a single day out of the year to show these emotions to the people that matter to us?
         One day out of the year. One. That is only 24 meager hours that we are “allowed” to go out of our way to be extremely mushy, romantic, giddy, and proclaim that love is the most wonderful high we’ve ever been on. Just one day to feel all of that? I do not think that is enough. Why must we be given only one day to proclaim all of this if we feel it throughout the entire year?
         You’re probably thinking right about now that I’m some hopeless romantic who sits around all day and dreams of being swept away by Prince Charming. Oh darling, you are so wrong. Granted, of course I like all the romantic mushy stuff. I think that everyone should enjoy it, at least a little, even if they don’t want to admit it. I certainly crave it, but do I need it like I need air? Of course not.
         Flowers, candy, stuffed animals, sure, they’re all nice, but do I really need to give someone all those things to show them how much I care? Not really. If I want to show someone that I care about them, I won’t do it materially. Instead, I’ll do something out of the blue; I’ll tell them; I’ll show them; I’ll write them a letter or just call to say hi. I won’t buy their affection. What kind of person would base a relationship solely on material items? I hope you wouldn’t, anyway, because in exchange for material things, you would be making yourself a material item.
         As for me being in the true Valentine’s Day spirit and running around like Cupid with my bow and arrow, I really don’t need a set day for that, either. If I want to, I’ll tell everyone how much they mean to me on a daily basis. I’ll also tell everyone how wonderful, caring, sweet, intelligent, thoughtful, and attractive my boyfriend is.
         Okay, I’ll admit it. I enjoy the candy hearts that say “Be mine” and “You’re cute.” I also enjoy eating them in spite of the holiday they represent-but that is beside the point. What I’m really trying to do is show you that a little romance is nice every once in awhile – but having to set a day in order to show these sweet, romantic, kind gestures shouldn’t be necessary.
         That said, why don’t you try being randomly sweet any other day of the year and see the response that you get? I’m sure that your mom would love to hear about how much she means to you; your siblings are probably itching to hear how thankful you are for all the times they stood by you. Your friends should be reassured about how much they mean to you, as should your boyfriend or girlfriend for just how much they light up your life.