The celebration of the winter solstice is a long-standing pagan tradition, that, like Halloween, has been co-opted into a number of cultures around the globe, be it as religious holidays or traditions or otherwise. The lightening of the darkest part of the year, be bit metaphorical or literal, with candles, brightly coloured lights or decorations in vivid, primary colours, is a powerful and necessary symbol when the literal darkness descends and doesn’t leave for many months, in some locales.
Valentine’s Day, on the other hand, can take a flying leap.
That particular ‘celebration,’ created by greeting-card companies to stretch profits from the holiday season into the third month of the year and was dropped smack dab in the middle of the least popular month of the year, on February 14.
Fact of the matter is that often, February did and still does, require a raison d’etre. I contend that Valentine’s Day, to whose existence I am morally opposed, is still important to a lot of people in the world. A celebration of love, I believe, is also a worthy addition to the calendar.
Here is how I propose to stick it to the greeting-card companies who imposed Valentine’s Day upon the masses, make February and winter way more interesting in the process.
Switch Valentine’s Day and Christmas.
It’s that simple. Move the holiday celebrating the birth of Christ (because historians can’t really agree on when, precisely, that night might have been, it’s a pretty good bet it wasn’t Dec. 25th.) Not even sure they had a ‘December’ back then.
Now that we live by a new, 12-month calendar and are beset by wintry weather and darkness for months on end in Canada, I propose that we move the two holidays and allow them to enjoy their true place I the sun, or lack thereof, as the case may be.
Valentine’s Day will move to Dec. 25th, and just a week later, we can celebrate the arrival of the New Year on the calendar with all the pomp and circumstance that requires, as you like it. I mean, for some, New Year’s Eve for many is the biggest night of the year. For me, it’s a night where I walk the dogs a little later than usual. I suppose that’s a function of how I live, though. New Year’s Day is a great day to binge-watch TV and not much else, and everyone likes a day off, so keep it there and appreciate it accordingly.
Christmas moving to Feb. 14th, on the other hand, will give people three months of winter to get ready for it, as opposed to just a few weeks, and in some cases, days. This gives all those who love the holiday just that much more time to get wound up for it. And, it will allow the people who believe so much in having a white Christmas to indulge their white tooth, and keep the peace with people like me who shovel their own driveway and can wait as long as they have to for snow to fall and stick to the ground.
It will considerably lighten the month of February and the expenditures that follow the holidays will benefit merchants in their toughest time of the year. Imagine looking forward to February?
Me, neither.
Worried about the solstice darkness? Don’t be. Valentine’s Day light bulbs can shine on in hues of pink and red until Late January, when green can be swapped out for the pink. In fact, I can’t think of one good reason for not doing it.
I would love to hear your thoughts on the topic. Am I right? Am I wrong? Am I crazy?
Definitely crazy.
Next week, we’ll tackle the topic of how Daylight Savings Time is an anachronistic symbol of a bygone era.