Valentine’s Day – A View from Across the Atlantic

Last year I wrote a post about Valentine’s Day called ‘Single Awareness Day? Seriously!’ a year on I thought it might be interesting to look back at that post, add some observations about Valentine’s Day in Canada and talk about what has changed for me.

I have never entirely understood why people complain about the commercialisation of Valentine’s Day. Sure cards and chocolates are available in every store and the price of flowers is dramatically increased, but it never seemed that excessive back in England. This year I am in Canada. I now understand just how bad it is having seen just how commercialised Valentine’s Day is in North America. In Walmart there was already a substantial amount of Valentine’s products in stock right from when I arrived back in Canada at the start of January and a lot of it looks pretty low quality.

I think in theory Valentine’s Day is a nice idea but in practise it doesn’t always work. Celebrating love is a wonderful idea. However the way in which people (both single and in relationships) perceive Valentine’s Day as something of an obligation is problematic. I don’t think it is right to begrudge people who do want to participate in Valentine’s Day, however people equally shouldn’t feel like they are being shamed into a relationship. Ultimately it comes down to doing what is right for you.

For me personally, I have realised that in the past year I have been increasingly trying to dedicate myself to my studies and push myself to do better. As a conquence I sort have don’t really have time to be searching for a relationship.

So in conclusion, as I mentioned last year, I think that The Supremes got it right back in 1966, “You can't hurry love, No you just have to wait. Love don't come easy, It's a game of give and take.”