What Valentine's Day Should Be

Valentine's day is about love, right? Wrong. That's what you're meant to believe. That's what they want you to believe. But there is no love or pleasure in the pressure that you feel to perform on February 14th every bloody year. What a stupid idea. Celebrate your love on the one day that makes it impossible to get a dinner reservation. On the one day that makes roses stupidly expensive (who the fuck decided that roses were the flowers of love?).  On the day that you have that big meeting or the day that it happens to be your birthday. Imagine if it's your birthday on Valentine's Day? That must suck so much*. This Valentine's Day, I want you to stop and think about what love really means to you. Is it about spending time with the person you're the most fond of? Is it sitting with your friend who has just lost the love of their life? Is it about comforting your dad because your mom left town with your local barman? Really stop and think about it. Right now. Pause and take a minute to engage your brain about what love means to you. Not what you're told to buy. Not what you're told to wear. Not what you're told to listen to or eat. If you've given this any thought at all, you'll come to the same realisation I have: Valentine's day is not about love. It's about buying shit. Now, don't get me wrong; I'm happy if you want to buy some socks from Nic Harry to give as a gift on Valentine's day. But that's not about love. That's an incredible stylish and thoughtful gift that you're giving to someone you love. It's not love. This Valentine's day, I want people to love themselves, frequently, freely and with as much enthusiasm as they feel is appropriate. I want couples to look at each other longingly without feeling the need to look down and flick open their phones to check for that next "like". I want men to stop berating other men for loving men. I want women to forget what magazines tell them is an appropriate way to show their love on Valentine's day. I want us to stop trying to make up for a year of lost love in a single day. If you work 100 hour weeks, take it from me: nothing you do on February 14th is going to make up for missing your partner's birthday last year. Nothing. I want you to work every day to do smaller things that make a bigger difference to your partner or anyone that you love. I want you to love because it's the right thing to do, not because it's the appropriate thing to do on the 14th of a random month. I want you to forget about skin colour because love knows no colour. I want you to ignore design because love knows no design. I want us to be as enthusiastic about our relationships today as we are about them on Valentine's day. Go home today and love.   *For the month of February, if it's your birthday on February 14th and you can prove it, come into one of our physical retail stores and we'll give you a free pair of socks with any purchase.