This topic was suggested by KR

Valentines is like Marmite, I guess you either love it or hate it. In our modern world it has been infected by the hallmark bug of commercialisation. We are expected to buy our loved ones lavish gifts, sell our souls for a table in a restaurant to eat a meal at three times the normal price in a room full of other couples trying to live up to the expectations dictated to us by magazines and adverts. And what does it matter that flowers are triple the price as well, and they just _have_ to be red roses.

The best, the Grand Prix variety of Hybrid Tea Roses have a USDA zone rating of 6b to 9b meaning that they _could_ at least be grown in the uk but let’s face it, they’re probably being shipped from the Netherlands at great financial and environmental expense having been grown in energy guzzling hot houses.

So what is Valentine’s _supposed_ to be about? Well in the Christian calendar it originates from paying homage to two martyred Saints named Valentine, indeed romance was not linked to this day until the 14th century and by 1969 the catholic church had removed it from the majority of it’s calendars.

The Ancient Greeks celebrated Lupercalia around this date (a feast involving animal sacrifice and virgins getting whipped in the street) whilst the ancient Norse religions had the Feast of Vali. Vali is thought to represent love and family and was seen as the protector of the family unit. It is thought that he is the equivalent of the Greek Eros and the Roman Cupid.

So we can finally see where love comes into it. Personally I’m not against a day celebrating love. We never express our love enough in a day-to-day setting and it often takes a terrible event for us to feel a real need to tell our loved ones how much they mean to us. But that love does not need to be limited to your partner or potential lover. A day where we express our love for anyone that means something to us.

Personally my ideal valentines would involve a take-away with minimal washing up, some sentiments expressed in either verbal or written form and a good cuddle. Although if you wanted to buy me diamonds I wouldn’t refuse 😉 (providing they’re ethical, green, fair trade diamonds of course :p)