As a female, it is almost expected that you look forward to Valentine’s Day with giggly school-girl anticipation. After all, aren’t we the sole reason why this “holiday” exists anyway? Given the option, most guys would gladly choose to pay this day no special attention. However, the wrath of their girlfriends is usually enough for them to buy the requisite flowers, candy and stupid teddy bears that sing.

However, in recent years it has become fashionable, even amongst females, to shun Valentine’s Day and deem it merely an artificial holiday created by the greeting card companies. This cool cynicism is usually coupled with the explanation that one shouldn’t need a specific day to tell their significant others that they love them. This emotion should be expressed 365 days of the year, not just a single one in February.

What’s funny, though, is that the people who make these comments are actually preaching a far more romantic and idealized notion than Valentine’s Day itself. Sure, it would be wonderful to shower our loved ones every day with the same affection and attention as we do on Valentine’s Day.

It would also be wonderful to skip school and work every day and prance through fields of daisies, but that’s simply not going to happen either.

Is it silly that the calendar tells us that there is only one day of the year solely devoted to love? Perhaps, but then it is also silly that we should only be thankful on Thanksgiving or only honor the men and women who died for this country on Memorial Day.

There are 365 days of the year and, yes, you should spend every one of them letting your loved ones know just how much you care for them. However, sometimes life gets in the way and you simply aren’t able to devote as much time and energy to this as you may want to. Valentine’s Day isn’t meant to cheapen or exploit these emotions. It’s just a small opportunity to make the time to express them.