This article was updated for AP style and to include related stories.

From roses, chocolate boxes and fancy dates, the importance and value of Valentine’s Day has significantly diminished.

Why?

As someone who personally loves the idea and feeling of love, Feb. 14 has always been a special day for me, regardless if I was in a relationship. But, as I’ve asked around and talked to people on how they might spend the day, everyone seems to not really celebrate, or doesn’t care about the day. I understand why people may feel like they don’t need one special day to celebrate their significant other, but it can always be a nice time to celebrate each other.

We need to celebrate this holiday in today’s world, regardless of how it’s spent.

History:

The history of Valentine’s Day has around three different beginnings – all stemming from St. Valentine, its patron saint.

One origin says that Valentine was a priest who would perform marriages in a time where they were outlawed in England, and he was put to death by Emperor Claudius II. Others insist that this story is actually based off of a bishop named St. Valentine of Terni, that was also beheaded by Claudius outside of Rome.

The last possible origin suggests that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons, where they were often beaten and tortured. According to one legend, an imprisoned Valentine actually sent the first “valentine,” greeting himself after he fell in love with a young girl – possibly his jailor’s daughter – who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, though, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter signed “From your Valentine” – an expression that is still in use today.

Even from these mysterious origins, Valentine’s Day has been widely celebrated and known for centuries.

Valentine would become one of the most popular saints in England and France by the Middle Ages. There have even been claims made that the Christian church may have decided to place St. Valentine’s feast day in the middle of February in an effort to “Christianize” the pagan celebration of Lupercalia. Celebrated on Feb. 15, Lupercalia was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders, Romulus and Remus. The festival would start with the scarification of two animals, and women and crop fields would be hit by the hides of these animals to bring fertility in the coming year.

Valentine’s Day wasn’t celebrated on Feb. 14 until Pope Gelasius declared it so in the fifth century. During the Middle Ages, it was commonly believed in France and England that Feb. 14 was the beginning of birds’ mating season, which added to the idea that the middle of Valentine’s Day should be a day for romance. The English poet Geoffrey Chaucer was the first to record St. Valentine’s Day as a day of romantic celebration in his 1375 poem “Parliament of Foules,” writing, “For this was sent on Seynt Valentyne’s day / Whan every foul cometh there to choose his mate.”

The oldest known valentine still in existence today was a poem written in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt. The greeting of this note rests at the British Library in London today.

In the 1840s, Esther A. Howland began selling the first mass-produced valentines in America. Howland, known as the “Mother of the Valentine,” made elaborate creations with real lace, ribbons and colorful pictures known as “scrap.” According to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated 145 million Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year, making Valentine’s Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year, following Christmas.

Current Reality of Valentine’s Day:

Banned from certain countries including Saudi Arabia, Iran, Indonesia and others, Valentine’s Day isn’t even celebrated everywhere in the world due to the west celebration of the holiday.

Schools often do small celebrations of the holiday starting in grade school. Even today at school, students can buy soda grams for friends, or one of the many beautiful floral arrangements made by the floral department. But, like many American holidays, it’s been capitalized off of. While the day may be expensive, with florists charging extra for bouquets or restaurants creating “special deals for two,” who said you need to go out and spend a bunch of money to have a memorable and great day?

The thing about Valentine’s Day is that no one can tell you how to celebrate, and it’s easy to reject the norms when it’s just you and your special someone spending quality time together. Love isn’t limited to just one day – but why not take the time on Feb. 14 to do a little extra to celebrate your relationship? Love like the old-time English romantics, or even like kindergarteners passing around colorful notes in their handmade mailboxes.

Why do all of our holidays seem to be losing their meaning?

Last year, now-sports editor and junior Neena Sidhu wrote a column about Valentine’s Day losing significance. Two years ago, now-graduate Maddie Moats wrote a column on Halloween, describing how no one came to school dressed up. This trend has continued with plenty of other holidays, especially non-religious ones. Have we lost the magic behind celebration, or has society just gotten to that point where we really don’t like taking the time to stop and enjoy the little moments?

Regardless, I feel like everyone can enjoy this spark of love on Feb. 14. Whether it’s with a partner or not, we all deserve to take a breather, celebrate the day and remember how even small – technically non-significant days – can be great.

Last-Minute Valentine’s Day Ideas:

Whether you celebrate “Galentine’s Day” with your friends or “Valentine’s Day” with your significant other, there’s something for everyone to do, or ways to celebrate the day together.

Galentine’s Day/Friends:

• Brunch
• Secret Cupid (just like Secret Santa, but with little love gifts for your friends)
• Watch your favorite (or least favorite) rom-com

Valentine’s Day:

• Picnic
• Handwritten notes
• Make your own floral arrangement for them
• Make a scrapbook of your relationship together

However you choose to spend the day, remember to take the time to love and appreciate yourself and the ones that you love, no matter what day it is. But, remember to wait for all that discounted chocolate on Feb. 15.