It’s the question of the day if not the question of the hour. Who’s going to be my Valentine? Our society is so fixated on love and the romantic entanglements that surround it that we’ve even created a day solely to celebrate that sentiment. But while one may argue that Valentine’s Day is a day to celebrate all kinds of love, there is only one love that we want to celebrate. The love of extreme and dire passion. The kind we see on our televisions, hear moving songs about and the stories or in this case articles that we write about. So if this is the case what happens to those who don’t have that kind of love to celebrate? Must we muddle through the day desperately trying to avoid seeing any sort of PDA (Public Display of Affection)? Or do we go to the other extreme and celebrate our lack of love by boasting of our singleness that we all at some point, claim to enjoy? It seems as if there’s always that struggle between our romantic inside and our bitter cynic that rears its ugly head, particularly Feb. 14.

I myself am guilty of this struggle and, while I have to admit the optimist in me usually wins, I do not claim to have any answers. Rather I propose we celebrate the sentiment of honesty. It’s okay to admit that you’re wishing you had that “special someone,” but it’s not okay to become so preoccupied with whom you don’t have that you forget what you do have. There’s no harm in watching sappy love movies over and over … in fact “Love Actually” is playing in the Connelly Cinema this weekend. Go see it with friends and get sucked into the magic. Then return to reality with the movie’s theme song, “The Trouble with Love Is” and complain about how you’re better off without all that crap. And then finally leave the theater with your friends and recognize the beauty of the truth. If someone does ask you who your valentine is, look around you. I’m sure you have more than you think. If not give me a call.