A Windy Day at the Beach

Honestly not a big fan of Valentine’s Day. If the day brings you ANY level of joy I wish you heaps and piles of it but this post is probably not for you. Esther A. Howland became known as the “Mother of the Valentine” when she started selling her decorated “cards” made of colorful pictures with lace and ribbons successfully commercializing the holiday. She made really cool cards and as they became popular she became one of the first people to employ a female workforce. https://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2020/02/14/cupids-capitalist-meet-esther-howland-the-19th-century-creator-of-the-modern-valentine/?sh=5c6974466cab She got super rich off of underpaid labor kindly giving us the monstrosity that is the modern flower, chocolate, and card-buying capitalistic extravaganza we see today. I prefer the beach Any reason to express love for one another is worth being celebrated. I am not here to hate on it (in spite of obviously doing so). But the holiday is notorious for exacerbating loneliness. It is easy to understand feeling excluded with TV’s pumping romantic comedies and the stores drowning in heart-shaped balloons. I sympathize with the lonely hearts. If this day has you down here are some fun statistics. https://www.thedailymeal.com/holidays/heartbreaking-valentines-day-facts