I have recently fallen in love with this blog of writer, Kate Christensen. I’ve not read any of her books, but you can bet I will now. Her entry on Valentine’s day expresses many of my thoughts on the holiday, and her fantasy about enjoying it with rich food and friends reminds me of my best V-day years ago. For further details see this post by Diana.
It dawned on me this morning that maybe for the first time I am neither excited nor upset about Valentine’s Day. Having a partner is a great relief, but neither of us find the holiday to be particularly special, and to be honest I don’t remember how we celebrated last year.
On past V-days I’ve “coped” with being single by emphasizing my love for friends and family, giving gifts, eating candy. On coupled V-days, pre-Howell, I’ve either shunned the holiday as cheesy or accidentally amped my expectations for dramatic romance out of control. Don’t ask me where the middle ground is, because that has never been a strength.
Her’s the XKCD take on the V-day dilemma.
Maybe next year I will take some initiative and plan a dinner party, Kate Christensen-fantasy style. This year I’m celebrating in a few ways:
-emailing my best lady friends and sending them texts full of hearts
-calling my parents
-thinking about a friend who is hurting today
-giving one nice and one silly gift to my man
-dinner at Harry’s. Mmmmm.
-being awesome at my job and loving myself for it
-hilarious “Romance Package” couples massage with Anna, which actually took place on Sunday
I think it’s turning out pretty well. Happy day, regardless of your romantic context!