My letter to Saint Valentine

Dear Valentine,

I feel that as years go by more and more people are against your celebration on the 14th of February. But can you really blame them? The commodification of love -since every partner that respects himself or herself is supposed to buy sweets, teddy bears or heart-toys or flowers- does not have to do with the expression of love but with the interest of shopkeepers. It is this exploitation of love, of such a lofty and pure concept, that can make people furious even at the mention of Valentine's day.

And to be honest, I agree that such a selfless feeling should not be exploited. However, since love is sometimes set aside for the sake of money, public image, ego, prejudices and/or fear of being hurt, I do believe that we need this day in order to be reminded of the importance of love. That does not mean that you have to buy anything though. Just being with the person you love is enough. Just having a person who wants to spend his or her time with you and accepts you as you are and you feel comfortable being around and you can share your thoughts and feelings with him or her is the perfect gift. And this description can be applied to a person who is your friend. Love can take many forms, so if you don't have a lover, I don't see any problem with celebrating the love between you and your friends or you and your family. 

To conclude, love is a feeling that should be celebrated every single day. However, people often get so caught up with their jobs, their egotistic needs or with the idea of materialistic joy that forget to express their love or they refuse to give in to it. So, my request from you, Saint Valentine, is to help people that have forgotten how it feels to be loved to experience it today so that they might try to retain the feeling all year round. And for those that do feel loved by the people around them, let it be another good day.