Princesses of Myth

And a tip of the hat to the Beatles for providing the musical accompaniment to the title of this blog entry.

It’s Valentine’s Day, as if any of us needed a reminder.  Just turn on the television or, better yet, hit the stores.

I was in New York City at Christmas time and joked that as soon as December 26th rolled around, the Valentine’s Day merchandise would be on the shelves.

Um. . .It was.

This is not going to be another one of those “Holidays Are Too Commercialized” speeches/rants/carryings-on.  There are plenty out there already. If you haven’t heard at least a dozen by now, how did you manage to avoid it?  We live in a commercialized world.  Even one of the most beloved, classic, sentimental Christmas tales, A Christmas Carol, seems aimed at converting Scrooge into the perfect holiday consumer.  Remember the final scene with the Spirit of Christmas Yet-to-Come?  Nice message:  Buy or die.  

(Okay, to be fair, the full message was Buy-or-die-alone-and-unmourned, and Scrooge was being steered toward becoming the perfect unselfish holiday consumer, but the Spirits of Christmas didn’t seem to encourage him to do volunteer work and give time, just money.)

So back to Valentine’s Day, without the “Valentine’s Day Is Too Commercial” speech.  I am a big fan of holidays, especially those that celebrate happy occasions.  What could be happier than love?  But I don’t like holidays that are supposed to bring joy but instead end up making you feel unhappy, that make you feel there’s a goal to achieve and that no matter how hard you try, you will never reach it, and that wind up giving you a sour, cynical outlook on something that should warm your heart, not break it.

I think it’s a pity that Valentine’s Day is one such should-be-happy holiday where it is much too easy to miss the point.

I think it’s wonderful that we have the power to change that by doing two very simple things today:  

#1.  Remember

#2.  Forget

Remember love.  Remember all the people you love.  Remember all the things you love, whether it’s something as (supposedly) silly as an old teddy bear (I still have the panda my dad gave me when I was two years old), or as here-and-gone as a chocolate truffle, or as glorious as a sunrise.  Remember to let someone else know they make this world a better place to be.

Forget envy.  Forget comparing yourself to others.  Forget the fear of not having given or gotten “enough” today.  And when it comes to romance, please forget all about comparing your life to the heroines you encounter in movies and television shows and books.  If I had an author/scriptwriter/editor/director running my life, it would be a lot closer to Hollywood-perfect, too.  

Most of all, remember this:    Today is not a contest, a competition, or a brag-fest.  Neither is love.  With or without the paper hearts-to-diamond-rings hilarity of today, it’s there for us all.

Now who wants to pass the chocolate truffles?  :)