Valentine's Day - Do we need it?

Well here we are again, at another Saint Valentine's Day, a holiday named after an early Christian martyr by the name of Valentine, though we do now know which one exactly, and we have the usual crop of Valentine cards, flowers, gifts and chocolates being sent or given to a whole variety of people, not necessarily all lovers, boy-/girl-friends, fiancé(e)s, or spouses. It is one of a whole host of special commemorative days, usually with no holiday attached (that is time off from work) and probably has more legitimacy than most in historical terms, e.g. Mother's Day, Father's Day, Grandparents' Day, Friend's Day (or International Friendship Day) and all the other Someone's Day (not to mention Something's Day) which have come into being over the centuries, some with purely commercial motives. It would seem that it isn't enough that we have birthdays, name-days, Christmas and Easter (though neither cards nor gifts are usually exchanged on the last of these). At this rate, every day will be Someone's or Something's Day and then we'll never get any peace or surcease! It will be a constant orgy of card-, flower- and gift-buying, to the great delight of traders and shopkeepers who are the only ones who will really profit from it.

Although I am not intrinsically opposed to such special days, as long as they are kept down to a manageable number, do we really need them in order to express love or affection for someone? Can we not do this unprompted and unbidden? Must we have someone telling us to do it and when to do it? Must a demonstration of one's love involve purchases? Is affection only of any value when it involves spending money? Is this stipulation of special days of demonstration of affection not just another manifestation of an intrusive dirigiste society that feels the need to dictate to people when they must do what and how? It would seem so, judging by how readily we take to such commemorations and all the trimmings that accompany them, inevitably involving trips to the shops (or online shopping sites) for the indispensable (so we are made to believe) purchases, without which our professions of affection or love would not be believed or accepted, it would appear.

In the end, all things considered, does a manifestation of some affection towards a number of people simultaneously on Valentine's Day really carry much weight as compared to the same thing done on a day like any other because one is thinking of that person or those persons and wishes to express their love or affection without the prompting of a particular day which is meant to incite people en masse to manifest affection? Is it not infinitely more valuable and meaningful when one makes such a gesture of affection on an ordinary day of the year, unprompted and unbidden, and with no pressure exerted by reason of a commemorative day on which everyone is doing the selfsame thing and buying the selfsame articles for presentation to a loved one? Do we always need to be regimented and pressured into doing something which should come naturally to us if the emotion expressed is a true and genuine one?

As I said, I am not in principle too bothered about Valentine's Day or, come to that, any other commemorative day, but I sometimes think that with this ever-growing number of special commemorative days, some of which are most worthy (as, for instance those to do with wars and conflicts where we honour the fallen) and some of which are rather silly and unnecessary, are we not in danger of losing our spontaneity and our sincerity when we go along with the herd and of being criticised and rebuked if we do not? For my part, I have this odd feeling that when things are done en masse they are less sincere and less meaningful than when they are done individually and free of crowd pressure, but perhaps I'm mistaken and looking at it all from the wrong perspective. After all, I am a man of a certain age and have seen many changes in my life, some of which I deem good and desirable and some of which I deem bad and undesirable.

Unfortunately, it is not always the bad ways that are discarded in time and the good ways that are adopted. One only has to study history to see this. And one of the prime motivators and persuaders to take one course of action in preference to another is 'Mammon', better known as 'money'. The profit motive is one of the strongest incentives in our modern society and governs both individuals, companies, organisations, and governments, to name but a few. If we now relate this to the subject of this blog, it is clear to see that in monetary terms Valentine's Day benefits all those who sell anything to do with such a day: greetings cards, flowers, chocolates, cuddly toys, heart-shaped trinkets and cushions, and generally anything that can be associated with love and affection. It would be a daring politician who would attempt to banish such a day!

Our Summer Holidays

Ahhhhhhh, the summer holidays... that magic season when we traditionally go off to some idyllic destination to sample sea and sun and lazy days on the beach and renew our energies. What would we do and how would we cope if we did not have this yearly break from our labours, this annual excursion to sunnier and lovelier climes where for a few days we can live out our dreams and cast our cares away?

Taking it easy by the sea, hand in hand, exchanging wide-eyed glances, enjoying the moment as only a child can. For a moment life stands still and the ocean expanse fills one's being and gladdens one's soul. We were at the dawn of our lives and out there was a world waiting to be discovered all over again.

We were young and vigorous and full of the joy of life. We ran into the sea that late afternoon, kicking and splashing the water into a bubbly white foam around our legs. The warm water felt good on our skin as we threw ourselves into its soothing embrace and half swam half rolled around in one joyful happy-go-lucky group of friends.

We all partook of those eye-popping tecnicolour cocktails that one only indulges in when on holiday and on show. Their bright primary colours, exotic mix and decorative slices of fruit matched our exuberance and holiday spirits and we drank them down without thought to their effect on our body or our pocket. They were supercharged but so were we!

They were carefree holidays when sun and sea and fun and love merged into one whole to make a heady potion. Evening romps along the seashore where Nature conspired to sharpen our senses and heighten our delights. As the sun went down, it threw its dying but dazzling rays across a swelling sea and tinged the sand with gleaming flecks of gold. The sea surged around us, its tingling coolness lapping at our feet. They were summer days that promised much and made our spirits soar. We had youth, we had passion, we had time to lose, and we were happy.

But all too soon those balmy days were no more and summer's lease of sun and fun was quickly at an end. We came back to live on memories and hopes, though with the knowledge that there would be another summer and another summer fling.

And now, many years later and in the tightening grip of age, we look back on those heady days of youthful passion and irrepressible bravura and wish we could do it all over again if we but had youth on our side. We still go on summer holidays to foreign climes but they are not the ones where once we went and we no longer do what we once did. Summer holidays are still with us, but the days of carefree living in the sun and impetuous loving on sandy shore are long gone and will not return.

As the song says:

"♫ We had joy, ♫ we had fun, ♫ we had seasons in the sun, ♫ but the wine and the song, ♫ like the seasons, ♫ have all gone. ♫♫ We had joy, ♫ we had fun, ♫ we had seasons in the sun, ♫ but the stars we could reach were just starfish on the beach. ♫♫"

Ahhhhhhhhhhh....... those summer holidays.