February 14th

February 14th is a significant day for a lot of reasons. The obvious being Valentine's Day. It is also the anniversary of Arizona and Oregon becoming states in the union (not in the same year), as well as Frederick Douglass' birthday.

A few notable events from February 14th:
- 1803 Chief Justice John Marshall declares that any act of U.S. Congress that conflicts with the Constitution is void.
-1899 Voting Machines are approved by Congress for use in Federal Elections
-1920 The League of Women Voters was founded
-1924 IBM was founded

My thoughts on Valentine's Day are generally of the anti- variety. I think the "holiday" is far too consumer-focused, and seems inherently exclusive. I think if you want to have a special day to celebrate your relationships (other than your anniversary..) there's nothing wrong with any of the other 364 days of the year.
I think there is value in having a designated day to focus on appreciating the people who are special to you, but at the same time I think we should all be doing that every day. I have never had a valentine, which probably contributes to my lack of appreciation for the day. I also think that people who have never spent a valentine's day alone (I don't mean alone as in without a significant other, I mean alone as in by yourself) don't realize how very exclusive the day, and the hype surrounding it, starts to feel.
I also tend to back away from things that are surrounded by a lot of hype. Valentine's Day is very very hyped up. Ads everywhere, whole sections of stores are devoted to red, white, and pink stuff, you can buy special new valentine's themed coffee drinks at your local caffeine source, and everyone around starts wearing pink and red and getting flowers and making dinner reservations. HYPE.
While I can say from experience that it isn't fun to be the only one not getting flowers on valentine's day, I also think it is so much more meaningful to be sent flowers on a random day of the year when there are no massive media campaigns telling you it would be a sweet idea.

All of that being said, today I am making a point to try and take the positive messages of the day to heart. I am doing some things for myself that I have been putting off. I am generally going to enjoy spending the day with myself (because I think I'm pretty awesome, and nobody knows or appreciates me as much as I do!)

I am also going to make a contribution to a couple of charities/relief organizations in the spirit of appreciating those around me. For me, remembering what is meaningful and special to me also comes with the burden that so many others are not as fortunate and do not have the food in their fridge, the roof over their heads, the income, or the loving circle of friends and family that I have.

So in spite of my anti-valentine's day attitude, I hope that if you are reading this you also consider taking an alternative approach to valentine's day and giving something back to the community of people and organizations out there who work to make people's (and animals') lives better every day.