Nor a "just because" GA, neither a Valentine's gift

TBH I think like that of new years resolutions too. Its a timed excuse to change something in our life. But do we really need an excuse? We can change our life whenever we want.
If I want to exercise more or spend more time with my family or just improve myself in any regard, I can start the very moment I come up with the idea (well, generally speaking). Its certainly not required that the calendar must be on january first to take the first steps.
And yes, one should express love and appreciation towards loved ones and friends on a regular basis, not just on dedicated holidays!

Nice text
every day, I tell my cats I love them, and bring them sometimes little gifts as cat weed or titbits they like to eat . And sometimes they bring me back some little preys and show their love by their way. Never found a girl who deserved it , except my mother . So yes we dont care of commercial alarms behind good intentions. Happy non Valentines days!

I, myself, have a DEEPLY rooted hatred for Valentines Day. It's the one day of the year I'm at my most pissed off. I've always felt animosity towards others that showed over amounts of public affection, but on that day that feelings is quadrupled.

The reason for this is because, and I know nobody will believe this or you will find this stupid, I have never, EVER had anyone to spend that day with.... EVER.

And the worst part is, I have to cover that due to working in retail. I;d call out but I haven't done that in YEARS for any reason at all.

Not just love, everything should be an ongoing thing if it's actually real. Otherwise it's just a farce, pure show. If you love your significant other, you try to do your best every day, not just buy something because of Valentine's or because of your anniversary, then forget about their actual needs. If a company claims to care about their workers, they won't just go "PIZZA DAY!" but give them proper equipment, shifts, etc. But the sad thing is that shows like these are good enough for most people, they endure until the next show instead of calling off the bullshit. And of course, this is all setting aside the fact that commercialism is a thing and will do all it can in order to make you buy things that you don't really need in the name of anything that is in any way popular. Nothing is sacred for them.

I'm jaded about holidays too and how our system of Capitolism turns them into spending holidays vs the spirit of what all these holidays are actually about.

This sadly comes down to the individual. Either they can hear the spirit of any given holiday date and choose to celebrate that, or societies spending trends.

So in short, imo, if a person feels empty at or about holidays or simply don't like to celebrate them because they feel too driven by Corporations and mindless lemmings to celebrate "just because" the date rolls around, then you need to create personal meaning for these dates or ignore them all together. Build what was never provided to you in the past and create a tradition of celebrating that. Basically the same concept of divorcing your old toxic family and creating a new one (yours) with compatible values (at least until your children hit pre-teens (snicker)).

I'm no longer critical of holidays. I may be critical of the chosen date (Christmas day is not aligned with Christ's actual historical birth date) and the Politics that have mainstreamed these dates and of course the people who celebrate them without understanding the spirit or intentions of each holiday. What I do and feel about these dates is entirely on me and those I hold close, call friends or family and would have a desire to share in these celebrations with.

For those of us who were never raised to appreciate the spirit and meaning of holidays vs an excuse to get off work/school, it is up to each of us to seek or create meaning (and hopefully memories) at these times. And to me, that is what Holidays represent. The original intent PLUS the annual REMINDER to reflect and express our feeling for those we care about or ethically align with, just in case we've not been expressing our appreciation (love) for these, throughout the year.

I hope this view helps a few others with jaded views towards Holidays and the Corp Spending Machine.

Technically speaking, I have never celebrated Valentine's Day, 'cause I've never been in a relationship ¯_(ツ)_/¯

I definitely agree with you on your thoughts. My wife and I just enjoy spending time together, doing things that are meaningful to us. We have fun and laugh together. We deal with difficult times and it's just the way things are. There's no need for an artificial day designation to show love or affection.

While I did buy a couple of things for my girlfriend for Valentine's Day, I think the thing she'll like the most is the card. It has a couple of pugs on the cover (one being male and the other female, at least judging by the clothes they are wearing). The reason I chose this card is that her beloved dog, Princess Lola, was a pug, and she was killed a few months ago when she was hit by a pickup (which just kept on driving).

Princess was a super friendly dog, and even though I didn't get a chance to see her as much as I would have liked, I do have some wonderful memories of her.

bump

Pretty much all that, yup.
I remember a couple of years ago, I had a rare night off work and ended up going out to a restaurant my lady wanted to try... and it happened to be February 14.
The restaurant itself was pretty pricey and the room was a sad display of dysfunctional relationships doing the obligatory Valentine outing for the calendar year. We had a laugh over the whole thing and vowed never to go out to dinner on that day again.

Love is an every day thing. You may feel it more at times than others but if you can only express it once a year because tv/magazines told you to, better look somewhere else or work on yourself first before you try being in a couple;

I agree fully with you.

Such days are only made as special high earning days for the shops.

When someone is important for me i show it not on date XYZ, i show it over the year whenever i think it fits. With words, a gesture, a little present, a invitation to a cooked meal or whatever else.

I don't buy something and don't celebrate Mothers Day, Fathers Day etc., so all that not involve kids.
I don't buy something for the Valentines Day when i have a gf but i say her that she is great how she is, that i love her and other nice -and true- things, she get maybe a bigger prepared breakfast with candle shine, or a bigger cooked meal, a extra massage or something like that. But i don't do such stuff only on this one day because for me it is a day as other ones too.

My parents firstly not liked when i got older and kicked the Mothers/Fathers Day bs but they seen over the years that i think on them, care for them, gift them more as only one thing over a year. I buy something when i stumble about some fitting, that can be 2x in the January and then the rest of the year not. I write a letter or poem when i feel it, not when i am "forced" because "all people write something, buy something, visit XYZ on day ZYX".

That lowers the pressure, that the most people do by themself, and in my case that means that my illness stuff don't kick in with a negative episode because i don't have big problems with my chronic bowel inflamation when i don't have stress.

On top comes that the Kobold in me is a rebell :-D + i hate to get forced to something^^ (get forced to something make me wild, but not the good way^^)

I decided that my life are much better when i live as i want and not as the society see as fitting (or with other words, i prefer not to do what the masses do