With the gushy overpriced flowers and romantic dinners day, aka Valentines Day, inching upon us, I was asked to contribute an article that would compliment and epitomize the essence of the pink and red Saint V. Little did they know (“they” being the ones that thought I had a clue about this day of L’Amour), the wrong person was picked for this job. But since I love a challenge, I figured why not? See, it’s not that I don’t fall into the jejune bathetic pool of love with the one I’m with, I just feel this holiday is overrated and used as a ploy to only celebrate 1 + 1 = 2. That leaves just the one who’s spotlighted either with fellow oners, who embrace it by hamming it up or putting the “Anti-Valentines Day” spin on it. Just the one is who I have the most sympathy for because anyone who is riding solo in no way shape or form needs to be reminded of this fact, especially on this infamous day, no matter how much self-love they possess.
While there is nothing wrong with specifying a day to celebrate expressions of love, whether for your parents, family, baby, spouse, significant other, or, most importantly, yourself, what I want to know is when did it get so blown out of proportion with ridiculousness and temptation? Every supermarket and drugstore is splashed with ornate balloons and chocolate ... CHOCOLATE ... so much girly wrapped chocolate that I want to rip open all the heart-shaped boxes and feast on till I have to be rolled home like Templeton from Charlotte’s Web (yes, I know I have a serious sweet-tooth issue). Now do you see my point? So in honor of love and what I think V Day should be commemorating are people obtaining the love they seek. For the ones that have it, why not be a dynamic couple and help ones without get to the coupled finish line! The greatest gift that surpasses any dozen roses, box of choc ... oh ... don’t get me started again … or supersonic love-sex magic paraphernalia is having love. How to you find it, you ask? Yes, that’s the question every single soul out there wants the answer to. I am currently channeling my Bewitched powers, looking for the perfect solution, and once formulated, I will get back to you ASAP! In the interim take this advice and hold it near and dear to increase your chances of meeting “the one.”
- Work (be careful with this one kids)
- Meet-ups/classes (great potential)
- Parties/networking/hobbies/charity events (this one works like a charm)
- Online dating (hit or miss)
- Friends/Facebook (gotta love FB)
- Commuter love (my personal favorite)
I’ll elaborate on the last one by bringing up my Twenty Question Interview articles from a couple years ago. For the ones that are not familiar with them, let me give you a quick refresher.
After taking a slew of interviews, I distinctly remember the common answer from most of my interviewees particularly in question 6, which reads: “Have you ever had a train, plane, bus love or crush episode?” “I have an ongoing crush but I’m too shy to approach them,” or “I saw this girl I had a great connection, didn’t do anything about it and never saw them again.” For further proof of sadness, just check out missed connections on Craigslist.
Which poses another question of mine: Why is this? Like the dating world isn’t hard enough, right? Okay, so maybe I’m sounding somewhat cynical but I’m just not a fan of today’s dating scene where you literally can get a date (with a person you haven’t met) in the palm of your hands. Hello digital world! I want to take an old-school attempt at encouraging people to get back at taking a chance in person (especially when commuting) and not with your BlackBerrys or iPhones. You’ll need a pen and paper to jot the number down for this one, you up for the challenge lonesome high-tech mighty ones?
