My Changed Thoughts on Valentine’s Day

Hey everyone, welcome to the Happily Ever After Again podcast. I’m your host, Sharilee Swaity. Today, it is Valentine’s Day and I am coming to you with my Valentine’s Day show. Today, I want to share three ways my thinking has changed about this holiday over the years, and how these changes have made me less disappointed in this sometimes controversial holiday.

So, first of all, you may be wondering why I called Valentine’s Day controversial. Well, let’s be honest … this particular little holiday can bring a lot of pressure! When you’re single, it’s pressure to have a boyfriend, or at least, a date. If you are alone on this day, that single state just seems magnified.

And if you are dating someone, there is the pressure of celebrating the holiday with just the right amount of seriousness. A gift that says “I like you,” without saying “I want to have your babies” if you’re not at the serious stage yet.

And maybe you thought the pressure would end when you got married, but NO! There can still be pressure for married people, too! Finding the right gift, year after year. Figuring out the perfect date, annually,

Valentine’s Day brings up the whole idea of romance and how important it is to each of you. Valentine’s Day can either remind you that you don’t have romance

1. Valentine’s Day plans don’t have to be made by the man in order to be romantic. They can be made by whoever is better at making plans and whoever comes up with the ideas.
2. Valentine’s Day is a joint venture. It should always be celebrated out of love, not out of pressure and expectations. Expectations can absolutely kill love and romance.
3. Sometimes “Less is More” when it comes to gifts.

My List of Great Movies for Valentine’s Day

1. The Proposal – cynicism about marriage, getting married for the wrong reasons. Typical chick flick: boy hates girl and yada yada … but the cast makes this formula work so well! Ryan Gosling, Sandra Bullock, Betty White and Craig T. Nelson. How can you go wrong? And I loved was all views of Alaska!

2. We Bought a Zoo – about a window struggling to let go of his wife and open himself to a possible new love right in front of him. Loved the animals.

3.The Pursuit of Happyness: Will Smith and his son, Jaiden. This is a story of a man who never seems to catch a break. He is a salesman trying to sell a product that nobody wants, and this continued pursuit of a futile dream leads to the demise of his marriage. His wife leaves him and his son alone, and he loses his home. The love story in this movie is primarily focused on the man and his son. It’s also very inspiring as we watch a homeless man pursue his dream of becoming a successful stockbroker.

4. The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete. Well, speaking of homelessness, we have another absolutely beautiful story of two people who have lost everything but have each other and that is everything. I will warn you that this movie does have at least one explicit scene. It is definitely not suitable for children, with a lot of “street language.” But what a story! It truly is the story of the love between two kids and the way they depend on one another in the face of abandonment and complete poverty. It is funny and original with a strong, poetic voice. I loved this movie!

5. Up in the Air. This is a cynical tale of a man who “has it all,” but realizes too late that he really has nothing. A successful corporate shark, his job is to go around the country and fire executives who have become redundant to their employers. He does it with such grace and smoothness that only George Clooney could play and doesn’t care who he hurts. Until it finally dawns on him that all of his money and airline points really add up a whole lot of nothing. It is the acting and the writing that make this movie special.