When I was younger, I used to think that Valentine’s Day was strictly for lovers. My classmates and I would glare at high school sweethearts exchanging gifts at the gate through the windows of our second year classroom, feeling grossed out (and secretly jealous, of course). I used to hate Valentine’s Day for being a fake holiday; further fueling the rampant consumerism and general idiocy of the unsuspecting youngsters who bought into all those silly promises of love.
A holiday dedicated to love! How preposterous! My old cynical self believed that real love ought to be celebrated every day, instead of once a year. Valentine’s Day was just an excuse for people to make up for all the affection and attention that they never showered on their significant others. Valentine’s Day was just an excuse for people to make others feel left out, depressed, or lonely.
All you need is love, but what if you can’t find it?
Perhaps what some can’t find is the specific kind of love that they’re looking for. Look harder. Over the years, I have come to discover that (as Hugh Grant’s character said in one of my favorite films of all time) love actually is all around.
I see Valentine’s Day in a different light now. Yes, maybe it’s still an excuse for misguided people to indulge in public displays of affection, but now, I also believe that Valentine’s Day is a great occasion to show the people we love (be they friends, boyfriends, or family) that we love them. So you don’t have a boyfriend. Get a bunch of your single girlfriends together and watch romantic comedies; have a great time, whether you actually enjoy the movies, or you enjoy bashing them. Learn some love songs and serenade your parents, your pet dog, or whoever is willing to listen to your yowling. Heck, you can even do it for spare change. Do something sweet for someone else, just because you care.
Valentine’s Day doesn’t necessarily have to be about romance. I like the idea of a holiday of love; a celebration of love of all kinds. Love is all you need; it’s all around you if you just know where to look.
And as a little Valentine’s Day present for everyone, I’ve come up with a so-called "Playlist of Love", with all sorts of love songs (everyone’s heard at least one of these) and lack-of-love songs, from the depressing to the sweet to the utterly lame, to suit all your Valentine moods.
1. Grow Old With You, Adam Sandler
2. Strange and Beautiful, Aqualung
3. Breña, A Perfect Circle
4. Truly, Madly, Deeply, Savage Garden
5. When You Say You Love Me, Josh Groban
6. Yellow, Coldplay
7. Head Over Feet, Alanis Morissette
8. Maps, Yeah Yeah Yeahs
9. All I Want Is You, U2
10. Secretly, Skunk Anansie
11. Stand Inside Your Love, Smashing Pumpkins
12. Nothing Compares 2 U, Sinead O’Connor
13. I’ll Find A Way, Rachael Yamagata
14. Akap, Imago
15.Cannonball, Damien Rice