image via the Guardian
Valentine’s Day is an awkward, sensitive holiday whether or not you have a significant other and, perhaps especially, if you are single. To be “without love” on a day designed to celebrate it as loudly and publicly as possible can make even the most secure single person question their life.
But there’s more love to be had – and to give – than the kind that requires a romantic partner, and there can be more to Valentine’s Day than roses, chocolate, cheeseball cards and forced romantic gestures. Rather than reflecting on your singlehood or grumbling about the consumerism of the holiday, all of us can use a day dedicated to the celebration of love as a time for reflection on its importance in our lives.
The focus on romantic love on Valentine’s Day is, after all, ahistoric: it didn’t begin as a holiday for lovers but was born of the ancient Roman fertility festival Lupercalia, held from 13-15 February – and procreative (or gay/non-procreative) sex and love weren’t exactly fellow travelers in ancient Rome.
Read the full story on The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/14/subvert-valentines-day-remake-the-celebration-of-love-in-your-own-image
