This is my first real passion blog of the spring semester based on my actual topic!  So for this week, the item that I have “pulled” is:

A Valentine’s Day card.

Of course, this isn’t entirely a random object, because Valentine’s Day is only a week away, but I like it and I am still getting a feel for my topic, so here goes.

Valentine’s Day is a day full of love, candy, and gifts, right?  Now, maybe.  But the origins of Valentines Day are much darker.  This will be a blog more fashioned towards those who dot have dates and don’t like Valentines Day.  There isn’t an exact known time where it started, but we could start with ancient Rome.

In Rome, men would “hit on” women by actually hitting them. Sickening.  Between February 13 and 15 every year, the Roman men would sacrifice animals like goats and dogs, and then whip their women with the hides of the animals.  This was called the Feast of Lupercalia.  And the thought process behind this?  Women would line up to be whipped because they believed that it would make them fertile.  In addition, the men would pick a female’s name out of a jar and they would be a “couple” for the duration of the celebration.  In addition, Roman Emperor Claudius II executed two men, both named Valentine, on Feb. 14, and that may have been the start of the name, since the Valentines were seen as martyrs by the Catholic Church.

Also, Shakespeare really helped to romanticize the holiday and really make it what it is today; more about love.  People around this time started to make handmade paper cards to give to one another.  Since then, cards have been a tradition, and a huge part of commercialization of Valentine’s Day.  However, I think that the commercialization isn’t as detrimental to the holiday, as it is for Christmas or even Easter.  People buy cards and gifts for one another to celebrate love.  The holiday isn’t about religion really, so there isn’t much to screw up, in my opinion.

However, on the note of cards, I would suggest handmaking them over buying some Hallmark card.  Of course, if you have not a single creative cell in your body, a bought card might be okay, but not with the words in them.  Create your own message that says what you actually think.  I am really against the idea of letting a company put words into your mouth.  If you have the creativity, you should really put the time into making a card, as the possibilities for a much better card are there, such as 3D cards and just more interesting ones than a printed picture.  I always make my own cards, and its just a good way to spend my downtime.  It means more to someone to get something you made.

So whether you are celebrating Valentine’s day with a loved one, or SAD (Single Awareness Day), have a good time on Friday!

Sam

p.s. still working on the structure of my posts: this one was a little weird.  I don’t know how to make it more structured around something specific…