'There is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved.' - George Sand
Ladies and Gents it's about that time again – Valentine's Day! The day set aside particularly to show love and appreciation to that special significant other or even friends and family for some; the day of Love. Let's talk. How are you spending said special day? Super excited? Not so much? Or somewhat like me, no big deal?
Well I for one, as you may know [if you've been reading my latest blogs] am single so I'm not really excited as some may be. Truthfully, I've never really been a fan of Valentine's Day but then again, there are several other holidays/special days that I do not celebrate so it's not being solely singled out here. However, I will share one particular experience that was oh so amazing and forever memorable...and then we will address the topic at hand.
Flashback to Valentine's Day 2015...
2015 was a pretty good year for me. Needless to say, yes, I was STILL single back then too haha. My best friend and I was feeling somewhat left out of the whole 'Love Day' thing and thought to ourselves, we don't need to be in love with someone to celebrate the day, hence we decided to treat ourselves; treat indeed it was! Fifty Shades of Grey had recently been released and we were both eagerly anticipating watching it...so we did just that - treated ourselves to a girl's day and enjoyed that sinfully delicious movie. I mean SINFULLY Delicious – but let's not expose the freak....yet. After having such a wonderful time at the movie, we continued the party at lunch/dinner.
We settled in at a nice little restaurant 'Under the Dock' [a spot famous in Nassau for its various food booths/restaurants]. Let me tell you how incredibly scrumptious the food was as I remember it all in detail; mouth salivating now for a taste. I ordered a nice big plate of crab 'n' rice, fried snapper which was seasoned to perfection, baked macaroni and potato salad – truly a Bahamian classic right there! I really wish I can remember the restaurant's name so you too can go on down and totally enjoy yourself. Unfortunately, I cannot but I will say, there are many great ones out there. Sampled food from quite a few and always enjoyed it. Moving along...so yes, we enjoyed ourselves very much that day, of course cocktails were included. The night ended beautifully and it made me think – does one really have to be romantically involved with someone to take part in and enjoy the festivities of 'Love Day'? Why do we tend to exclude single people out of Valentine's Day or look down on them for being alone particularly on that day? [p.s. being alone doesn't necessarily mean being lonely but that's another topic for another time] Do we celebrate out of the love of tradition or for genuine love and if so, why isn't everyone included?
For the Love of Tradition...or Traditional Love?
Now some may beg to differ with me and that's totally fine. It's one of the many beautiful things about life, we're all entitled to our own opinions. I believe we've all at one point or another, or perhaps still do celebrate or do things simply out of tradition; make it the norm and that's fine in a way and somewhat understandable since we are taught many of the things we do know now. And this is where my question becomes relevant: is it genuine love we show that day or more of, 'damn I have to buy him/her something for Valentine because they will be mad at me if I don't especially if everyone else is getting something?' Does it hold a significant meaning to you? I would really love to know p.s. you can share your thoughts/comments below or on the facebook page – @Akrizia.
I know many people who do things simply out of tradition with no understanding of its purpose or meaning. Which is one of the reasons as stated earlier, there are several holidays I particularly do not celebrate after learning of its origin and true meaning. Again, I'm not singling out Valentine's Day as one of them for any particular reason, I personally just have never been a fan even when I would be dating, my partner would always know the day serves no purpose to me – just a personal preference, don't think about it too much okay?. I'm weird....a little haha.
That's not true, let me be honest. I won't omit that out of this read because I once really felt that way and slightly sort of still do but I do think it's deeper than that now that I'm really thinking about it. Yes, I still do somethings out of tradition but as time goes on and I grow, I'm breaking many of those traditions because...
- They were taught to me and back then you did what you were told with no idea of why (in black homes you NEVER ask why...another silly tradition that sincerely needs to be done away with) and
- Knowledge is power; when you KNOW better, you DO better.
With that being said, I think I never really cared for the day simply because I thought it was silly having one day set aside to show love to someone. I always felt if I showed it to you for 364 [365 leap year] solid days, I'm so not upping the antics to be 'extra' on one day. I'm sorry, but I just can't. Never done it and if you're looking forward to dating me, I will tell you now, never will. Hahahahahahahahaha 'oh no she didn't just say that!' - Yes my loves, I did. So what about other holidays you ask? Did I not just say I don't celebrate them either? It's quite a lot of them to be honest, my family knows...if you'd like to know as well which ones and why, feel free to ask...again you can comment below or via facebook.
I believe that with time in an evolving world, everything becomes so commercialized and the feelings and genuine meanings are being ripped away from these 'special' days/holidays, leaving them as just mere optional days to capitalize on. It's sickening to say the least. Some of the 'histories'/stories of some holidays aren't even true...just sugar coated and presented beautifully packaged to you so you fall prey to their tactics of making you spend, spend, spend, but again, another topic for another day. However, the history behind Valentine's Day is quite interesting and though it goes deep, if you do care to look into it, I can understand the authentic love being shown so for that reason I do not knock anyone who does celebrate it.
I close by asking you one more time, do you celebrate Valentine's Day for the love of tradition, because it's what everyone else does or does it really hold meaning to you? And if it's true purpose is to show love, why isn't everyone included? Can friends be each other's Valentine to show how much they love each other? What about fathers and daughters? Is it ok for fathers to shower their daughters with gifts and so forth on that day to show them how much they love them?
If you're going to do anything in life, let it be meaningful, never out of 'tradition' or fear of disappointing someone because of their expectations: do it with thought and with purpose. I love the idea of the day itself, that won't change where I personally stand on it but nonetheless it's beautiful. So, if you're going to honor it, let it be Beautiful!
Happy Pre-Valentine's Day Loves...do enjoy!
Love Always,
Akrizia 'MaryAntonique' Smith
9th February, 2018
