The first Valentines Day I kind of remember is when some boy at school crossed out my best friends name and handed me the same card back with my name boldly written underneath hers. A second hand card, rejected and pocket money bought.
The second is the card I carried around for a good 3 months as the boy I had a crush on and who I hadn’t even had the confidence to speak to was absent from the town centre every Saturday I was there. (Surely a coincidence?)
“Liking you is like talking to a wall, and I don’t half fancy you Gary Ball.” But it isn’t just what a hormonal 15-year-old teenage girl does in the 80’s.
We have been sending Valentines messages for over 500 years and the first commercial printed cards were from America 300 years ago. And now according to research around half of the UK population is spending a whopping £1.3 billion on their Valentines cards and gifts.
However do we overspend in the middle of February as we feel we should or do we do this as we want to?
Should we wait for that one day to show our loved one that we love them?! Or should everyday be Valentines Day?
With lockdown rules changing constantly who knows what the situation will be for going out for a meal this coming Valentines Day. Personally I couldn’t think of anything more cringe worthy (other than the poem my 15 year old self penned).
Fine, step it up at home with something special vegan dinner wise made from good old “scratch”, get out a few animal free candles, open a bottle of check the label, isinglass free, organic, red and hand me some dairy free chocs. But please – no flowers, no restaurant or teddy bears. Well not on the 14th February anyway.
However for many this is a day where you can reach out to your crush and let them know how you feel. Why not? What have you got to lose? Or of course – spoil yourself!
You may know that as I have been asked to help a lot of vegans find their perfect partner I set up my veg*n dating site several years ago: VeggieVisionDating.com.
It is run for love and I would love for it to help connect more likeminded veg*ns. I have been asked by so many vegans….. famous people, business people, computer programmers, models, as well as regular people like you and I about meeting that someone special.
People who have been in tears after untoward responses as soon as they mention they are vegan or even reading on that dating profile “no vegans please.” Some have been married or in a long term relationship that hasn’t worked out for whatever reason. Some have split after the anguish of their partner not following their vegan footsteps.
And while binge watching 5 seasons of Sex and the City (while on my exercise bike) it got me to thinking that finding your someone special can be a challenge no matter what decade.
And for us vegans – we narrow that down considerably if we want to share our Valentines Days with a likeminded vegan. (Do remember everybody on our site is veg*n and they want to date other veg*ns!)
No matter what your relationship status or orientation I will take this opportunity to wish you a romantic 364 days of the year – everyday other than Valentines Day!
With thanks to @groovelanddesigns for their super image.
