It’s that time of year again where flower, card, candy, and stuffed toy makers go nuts. Yes, I’m talking about Valentine’s Day. The day when all lovers are encouraged to openly express their love for one another! Honestly, people, come on! Do we need a designated day to tell someone you love them? I’m not saying its not a sweet thought and a nice gesture, but do you really need to spend an entire paycheck or even take out a loan to say, “I love you”?

I love to get presents! I love to get flowers! I think they smell wonderful and they are absolutely beautiful as a centerpiece. And, yes, they give me that special feeling that someone is thinking of me. Do I need an entire day dedicated to it? No, not really. I would prefer to get them on any other day for simply no reason other than they wanted to. But definitely not because my significant other felt they had to because of some huge overly commercialized holiday. To me, you can show so much more love without spending so much in cash!

What’s the basis for Valentine’s Day, anyway? Historically, there were many St. Valentine’s that can be linked to the holiday, but strangely not one of the St. Valentine’s that are linked to the history of the holiday had a whole lot to do with romance, except with the mention of a possible farewell message written by one St. Valentine, to his beloved before his execution which took place on February 14th in either 269 A.D. or 270 A.D., but instead they were martyrs for their beliefs in the Catholic Church.

Another possible link to the February holiday is the pagan festival of Lupercalia. This festival was in honor of the She-Wolf that suckled Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. The festival had links to fertility and easing the pain in childbirth as well as other beliefs not mentioned here. The Luperci (brotherhood of the wolf) ran the festival beginning with a sacrifice of two male goats and one dog, ending with a nude run through the streets smacking women with thongs cut from the skins of the sacrificial animals. Doesn’t sound too romantic to me!

There’s other speculation to the day being referred to by Chaucer. But honestly, Valentine’s Day as we know it today, comes down to this, in the 1840’s Valentine’s Day was reinvented by a man named Leigh Eric Schmidt. Later in 1847, Esther Howland, mass-produced paper lace embossed valentine’s and sold them in her father’s book and stationary store. And thus we have today’s traditional valentine card, but can we do anything simple? Of course, not! Which is why Valentine’s Day is now a multi-billion dollar market!

So, in the spirit of the holiday, go get the one you love (or just like) and treat them to something special, but realize its because you want to not because some historically significant event of love happened on this day and you need to honor it.

Some good ideas are the traditional card, box of chocolates, and flowers. Oh yeah, and you cant’ go wrong with jewelry right A few new ideas? What about treating her/him to a relaxing bath, or a weekend get-away? What are the interests of your special someone? Get them a good book to read! Or a subscription to their favorite magazine. Take them to some place special. There’s so much that you can do without spending a wad of cash.

Remember, show more, spend less