Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! I actually forgot that it was indeed V-day until my friend called me and reminded me of this. This is unfortunate for me, as every year for the last 5 years I have purchased my friend Adam several boxes of Necco Candy Hearts (as shown above). He loves those disgusting things. However, this year between the mayhem that has been work and my lack of cognizance about what day in February it was, it slipped my mind. Consequently, I spent 45 minutes of my Valentine's Day driving to Target and back in order to scrounge up a box of Necco hearts to send him. It turns out a traditional box of Necco candy hearts is very difficult to find in local East Coast grocery stores. All that was left was a giant box specifically targeted at women with sayings for your best "gal pals," such as "BFF," "Fearless," and "Women Heart" (whatever that means.) (**As an interesting sociological commentary, I found it slightly disturbing that this particular box advertised that there's only 100 calories for every 30 hearts you eat!!! Damn it! If I want to eat those hearts I want to eat them--I don't want to think about calories! Ugh.). I imagine this is the sort of thing that Carrie Bradshaw might send to her 3 best friends on "Sex and the City." Anywho, this is what Adam will be receiving from me in the mail, albeit a few days late. Valentine's Day is one of those odd days of the year where everyone pretends/actually does hate it, but then they bring a lot of attention to it by focusing on the hate. "It's too commercialized!" "Single's Awareness Day!" Ugh. I realize that I am enabling bringing attention to this day by writing about it, but I feel OK and secure with this because this year my attitude toward this particular day is an odd mixture of apathy and celebration. And, as many things in life tend to be--it's about your perspective. Why can't we just celebrate love in general?! I have plenty of people that I love and celebrate, and who likewise love and celebrate me. My friend says this makes me a hippie. I've been hearing that a lot lately....hmmm. Anywho, I love Valentine's Day because I love Love. Not romantic love (although I wouldn't turn it down, let's be clear), but plutonic friendship love. And as I journey through life I realize more and more how very few people have experienced true friendship. So thank you, dear friends and family for your love. I salute you! And I leave you with this lovely quote from our dear friend bell hooks:

"When we accept that true love is rooted in recognition and acceptance, that love combines acknowledgment, care, responsibility, commitment, and knowledge, we understand there can be no love without justice. With this awareness comes the understanding that love has the power to transform us..." (bell hooks, Feminism is For Everybody: Passionate Politics)