It happens this time every year. Everything turns shades of pink and red, and love is in the air. Yes, it is time for Valentine's day again and this year, like every other before it, I am alone. It's not really that big of a problem, per se, but I have always wondered what it would be like to have a "true" Valentine's day.
I know Valentine's day was invented by card and gift companies to fill the void between Christmas and Easter, but the actual "meaning" behind Valentine's day is much, much, more. Traditionally, Valentine's day is a day for couples. Typically a couple consists of more than one person, which counts me out as being a couple. Being alone, and an "angsty, emo, kid" I have started to come to the conclusion that Valentine's day is meaningless and too corporate. I mean, love isn't corporate, right? However, as a historian, I always wonder what the past has to offer by way of explaining the traditions of today. So, now, I shall present to you a bit of the history of our old friend, Saint Valentine.
There are accounts of three, seperate Saint Valentines. However, there are two of particular interest. One was a priest in Rome, the other was a bishop in what is now modern Terni, both of whom were martyrs and both of whom have ties (martyred on) to the date, February 14.
Some of the first records of the reasoning behind why we celebrate what we do can be found in the works of Chaucer.
For this was sent on Seynt Valentyne's day
Whan every foul cometh ther to choose his mate.
So, basically, on Valentine's day, the middle of the second month of the year, was when the birds used to pair off and find themselves a mate. Birds? BIRDS?!?! So, because birds get together on a certain day of the year, we dress in red and pink, buy flowers, and make sweet love? Basically, well, yes, that's exactly what that means.
Now, you might be asking yourself, "What does Saint Valentine have to do with any of this?" Nothing at all. It appears to be just a coincidence that a canonized saint named Valentine was burned at the stake on the same day that birds get together with their mates. Valentine's day has no real meaning.
What? Well, yes and know. Valentine's day does have meaning, but it's not the meaning that the corporate world hangs on it. Valentine's day *does* have a meaning, but the meaning is what we put on it ourselves. If you put some kind of meaning of love and compainionship on it, then that's what it is going to be for you, but if you use it as a time to brood and feel sorry for yourself, well, guess what nerd, that's exactly what you're going to do, and you're going to be miserable. So, like with most things, Valentine's day is what YOU make it, even though it really doesn't have any historical backing.
So, those angsty, emo kids were right after all, but then again, maybe they're not.