From the wisdom of Arieh
Ladies and gentlemen, the season of love is (apparently) upon us. February 14th is coming up and, according to Hallmark, the 'official' day to tell that person or persons close to you that you actually and officially love them! How distorted!
Showing love and appreciation through mass-produced greeting cards, roses, chocolate, stuffed animals, and other manufactured goods are no way to show someone you love them. While these goods may be a culturally acceptable way to tell someone you love how you feel, please don't limit yourself to one day in a year, or even these specific cultural products. Valentines Day has lost its meaning, and has been drowned in our cultural sea of commodity fetishism.
I urge you all to call a family member, friend, lost lover, acquaintance, or stranger and tell them something you appreciate/like/enjoy about them, as opposed to buying them a meaningless product. Words, rather than products, are powerful exchanges, and can generate a greater response than impersonal and generic gifts. Gift giving is not necessarily evil, but the common exchanged goods are empty and hollow.
Love, and generally the infatuation with love, can be a powerful emotion, and should not be usurped and abused by the corporate entity. One needs only to look at William Shakespeare's tale of Romeo and Juliet to see the sacrifice these two lovers go through when they cannot be together. While this tale is arguably fiction, it presents a very strong plea for emotional love, and buries its hedonistic counterpart.
This email is an appeal to not let your emotions and feelings be confined to images and symbols which have been created for the sole purpose of profit. You should seek alternative, thoughtful, and creative outlets for expressing your love and affection to people, and not let your imaginative drive to be suppressed by consumerist media.
While I do detest Valentines Day, I understand the importance of being included within a group - no matter how shallow or fickle it may be. Showing a loved one, if only once a year, how you feel is better than not showing them at all. For those who feel left out, or chose not to be engulfed by the consumerist tidal wave, I offer you an alternative solution to mainstream Valentines Day celebrations. Heeding my own words, I am offering free (as I do everyday) hugs, kisses, dips, and fits of laughter to anyone seeking them (and likely some that are not). Should you need my services, on Valentines Day or any other day, come find me and I will do the best I can to change your mood.
Give Valentines Day, one of the ugliest of all Hallmark Holidays, a run for its money by not purchasing anything, and making something that comes from your heart, rather than taking the easy way out!
-Arieh
Showing love and appreciation through mass-produced greeting cards, roses, chocolate, stuffed animals, and other manufactured goods are no way to show someone you love them. While these goods may be a culturally acceptable way to tell someone you love how you feel, please don't limit yourself to one day in a year, or even these specific cultural products. Valentines Day has lost its meaning, and has been drowned in our cultural sea of commodity fetishism.
I urge you all to call a family member, friend, lost lover, acquaintance, or stranger and tell them something you appreciate/like/enjoy about them, as opposed to buying them a meaningless product. Words, rather than products, are powerful exchanges, and can generate a greater response than impersonal and generic gifts. Gift giving is not necessarily evil, but the common exchanged goods are empty and hollow.
Love, and generally the infatuation with love, can be a powerful emotion, and should not be usurped and abused by the corporate entity. One needs only to look at William Shakespeare's tale of Romeo and Juliet to see the sacrifice these two lovers go through when they cannot be together. While this tale is arguably fiction, it presents a very strong plea for emotional love, and buries its hedonistic counterpart.
This email is an appeal to not let your emotions and feelings be confined to images and symbols which have been created for the sole purpose of profit. You should seek alternative, thoughtful, and creative outlets for expressing your love and affection to people, and not let your imaginative drive to be suppressed by consumerist media.
While I do detest Valentines Day, I understand the importance of being included within a group - no matter how shallow or fickle it may be. Showing a loved one, if only once a year, how you feel is better than not showing them at all. For those who feel left out, or chose not to be engulfed by the consumerist tidal wave, I offer you an alternative solution to mainstream Valentines Day celebrations. Heeding my own words, I am offering free (as I do everyday) hugs, kisses, dips, and fits of laughter to anyone seeking them (and likely some that are not). Should you need my services, on Valentines Day or any other day, come find me and I will do the best I can to change your mood.
Give Valentines Day, one of the ugliest of all Hallmark Holidays, a run for its money by not purchasing anything, and making something that comes from your heart, rather than taking the easy way out!
-Arieh