It would be easy to dwell on the fact that I’ve spent all but one Valentine’s Day as a single person. That or dig into the faults and shortcomings of the holiday. Truth is, I’ve always sort of enjoyed the holiday despite those things.
It’s certainly true that it can be a horrible and stressful day, but I think that comes with when one tries to live up to the expectations of the day. You’re supposed to spoil your SO with gifts and get reservations at that place and so on. To me, this is an example of when expression overshadows the point.
Whatever Valentine’s Day was intended to be, I came to understand it as a day to recognize and celebrate the-almost magical-phenomena of love. The thing that rises suddenly and completely consumes someone, often with life-altering consequences. In my mind it even extends beyond the romance between two people, and includes those personal pursuits or joys that hold that strange possession over someone.
For me it became a Time to recognize and celebrate the things and people we are passionate about.
I made this video largely in humor. However, when I was getting ready to shoot it, I became more aware of how appropriate it was. How it is even somewhat of a landmark.
This Time last year, I was still deeply struggling with hard questions and a tangled, knotted up sensibility for love. Which extended to the sense of my overall identity.
In it’s own sort of cheesy way, this video is a celebration of the massive success I have had the past year in overcoming these things in my life and coming to love myself in a better way.
