Much ado about...Love?

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So.. It’s Valentine’s Day. Love is in the air. ‘Tis the season of luuurve.  Time for those mushy lines, those red roses, red balloons, red velvet sponges.

Little did that 3rd century saint know, that a thousand years later his birthday would be looked forward to by couples to ‘officially’ shower each other with unconditional love (whatever THAT’s supposed to mean), buy each other presents and get drunk and make out like love-struck teenagers. It’s cute, though. In a so-superficial-that-one-has-to-learn-to-ignore-the-artificialness-of-it-all-and-go-with-the-flow way. Which, coming to think of it, isn’t all that bad. I mean, it’s un-cerebral to actually look forward to one particular day in a year to show how much you love someone; but if you look at it with a broader perspective, it’s a tried and tested formula to renew a relationship of that much talked about ‘oomph’.

Over the years, it has come to be a tradition to observe; an occasion to channel your attention, thoughtfulness, and creativity into making this one day special for that special someone, letting them know how much they mean to you, and how wrong your life would’ve been without them, yada yada. For example, couples who’ve been together for a considerably long amount of time may need to reignite that not-exactly-overrated spark in a relationship. And when better than an internationally renowned, widely accepted day to do so?

But what annoys me is that people take this ‘License to be mushy for a day’ thing a tad too far and do crazy, majorly insane things, push their luck and ruin it for themselves instead. The trick, I think, is to be subtle. Keep it simple- for, nowhere is it stipulated that in order to be romantic, you need to go all out and order three hundred red roses and fifty canary cages and a boat ride thrown in for good measure. Keeping the drama to a minimum doesn’t reek of desperateness, and when the day’s over, you have your dignity intact. You ask someone out, there’re two possible outcomes- they either say yes, or they say no, and in the case of the latter, you move on and not brood. Okay, maybe you could brood a little, but that’s not to be overdone either.

Of late, with the flourish of social networking sites and various phone apps, there has been a paradigm shift on love. People go about posting hearts on each others’ walls; twelve year olds declare themselves to be ‘forever’ relationships, the word ‘love’ is indiscriminately being used everywhere- so much so, that it sometimes makes me want to cry.

I am no cynic. But it is deeply disconcerting when someone claims to be in love KNOWING they aren’t. Just to get some extra ‘ooh’s and ‘aah’s.  It is a pure, sacred emotion, NOT to be used as a cover for some cheap two week fling, not to be tainted, but respected for what it is, because when misrepresented, it can cause a lot of crazy misunderstandings.  The people concerned -gender irrespective- can be lulled into a false sense of security and they’ll land on their backside. By the time it is all over, they’d’ve spiralled into an abyss of darkness so scary, so deep, it would've caused more damage than they signed up for. Surely they’d’ve assessed that there’d be some butt-hurt involved, yeah? *exhales* Man, I feel like an evil minx now. xD

Anyway. The point is, stick to what you believe in. If you’re into that mushy poetry and over the top sky-writing and floating candles, go all in. If it makes you happy, that is. And for those who like to keep the theatrics to the minimum, a quiet night with dinner and music may be the perfect thing for you.

Now, coming to the single ladies- this is a brilliant day for you. :D Clear your schedules, stock up on that comfort food, and put on your best PJs, ‘cause there’s going to be some major chick-flicks and Castle marathons all day. <3 Now WHAT could be better than that?! Hahaa.

 Oh. And the single boys who’ve nothing better to do can watch the match or something. Nothing on? You can join us in our chick-flick marathon. Not too into rom-coms? Take a hike! ;D

Song Credits: Valentine- By Kina Grannis