Hi all. I hope you are having a fantastic weekend. I’m super excited because I’m on my way to the Interior Design Show. The trade show always inspires me and gets my juices flowing . . . creatively. Considering all the things I have on the go right now, I need some inspiration!
Anyway, I have been doing my usual Internet crawl this morning and realized two things; 1) Time flies! I cannot believe it is the end of January already, and 2) Valentine’s Day is quickly approaching.
I’m going to share a little secret with you.
I don’t believe in Valentine’s Day. (Did a cupid somewhere die just now?)
Truthfully, I don’t “celebrate” Valentine’s day. Don’t get me wrong, as a child I loved giving and receiving cheesy valentine cards, the abundance of chocolate and even the little gifts my parents would give us. For me it was always an added bonus because my birthday is a couple days away, so it was a pre-cursor to the “big” event.
As I matured, however, Valentine’s day became less and less about showing love and affection and more about guilt, sadness and anger. Feeling hurt when you’re significant other didn’t do something memorable or angry if the gift was late or forgotten. Valentine’s Day became more about disappointment then happiness. As well, as I got older, my Valentine’s gift got looped into my birthday! People who have birthdays near Christmas can feel my pain . . .
Eventually it got me thinking, and I realized that I no longer wanted gifts or chocolates or cheesy valentine cards. Because if someone really loved me, they had 364 other days of the year to show it. A random bouquet of flowers from Elijah, on a random day, for no other reason then because he wanted to means so much more to me then a little teddy bear holding a heart on February 14th. Knowing that he bought it because he felt he had to takes all the romance out of receiving it. I don’t think that love should be isolated to one day. I understand the celebration part, but for me, everyday is a celebration.
I also understand that being in the internet marketing business means that I have to take advantage of Valentine’s Day and monetize it to bring in money. The internal conflict is raging! However, I know that there are men and women out there who look forward to it and who are very good at making the day special, and I am here to help them make that possible. I guess I’ve just been jaded.
Just food for thought. You know what would be really specially, springing your gift or surprise on your loved one a day or two before Valentine’s Day. Not only will it catch them off guard, and seeing that look of surprise on their face will be worth it.