In honor of Valentine’s Day, I wanted to write a short blog about it. The thing is, I love love. And if we have Mother’s and Father’s Day, why shouldn’t we have a day dedicated to love?
Late start
Valentine’s Day became a thing in The Netherlands in the mid 90s. Did you know that there was only one company in 1981 that made Valentine’s cards? But after 1990 it became more famous, especially amongst florists. They saw that the export business was going really well around February 14th, so they kind of introduced it here in The Netherlands as well. Nowadays, we usually send a card and flowers to our Valentine, but just a gift of your own liking is also very common. When I was young, I remember we sent cards anonymously, but I think the older we get, we just write our name on it.
POPULAR OR NOT?
From 1990 we saw an increase in people who celebrated Valentine’s Day until 2007. After 2007, the number of people celebrating has been decreasing every year, probably because of the excessive marketing around this period. You see advertisements for it everywhere, at supermarkets, bus stops, shops and of course online. Maybe people get overwhelmed or feel pressured to do something special. Because most people I talk to, always say the same thing: No, I don’t celebrate it, it’s a commercial thing, I don’t want to spend money on this… You should see my face. I will never stop convincing people it’s a beautiful day to be celebrated. Because I don’t agree with the commercial side of it. I always say, it’s as commercial as you make it. As long as it comes from the heart, why does it matter? For me, it’s a reminder to always be kind and it's also to make it easier for people to show love who normally struggle with it. The same as Mother’s and Father’s Day are simply a kind reminder that we love our mom and dad. That doesn’t mean we don’t love them the rest of the year. So celebrate life, celebrate Valentine’s Day, because we need more love in this world.
I’m a teacher by day and musician by night. That’s why I also wanted to share with you the news that I have a brand new single coming out on Valentine’s Day. Check it out on February 14th at 14:00 Dutch Time on Youtube and Spotify.
Have a love-ly weekend and be kind!