How Should We Celebrate Valentine's Day?我们应如何庆祝情人节?

每逢情人节，玫瑰花涨价，巧克力走俏，情侣绞尽脑汁挑选有新意的礼物，商家费尽心思让人们为浪漫买单，“情人节”成了“情人劫”。难道没有更好的方式来表达爱意吗？其实，情人节最重要的不在于为对方花了多少钱，甚至购买价格不菲的礼物，而是两个人在一起度过甜蜜、快乐的时光。花点心思做一些感动对方的小事，岂不更浪漫温馨？

As all of you know February 14th is Valentine's Day.Love it or hate it you will not escape the fact that it is Valentine's Day.For many guys，Valentine's Day is a chore and for women it is a day that is highly anticipated.

I personally feel that this day is nothing more than a"Hallmark Holidayl"designed for material expression.never understood the concept of dedicating one day to show your special someone how much you care about them.Shouldn't that be something that happens more than once a year？Perhaps even more than once a week？

If you are a person who is married，you have the anni-versary of your wedding，and if you are in a relationship there are often memorable days such as the date you start being serious about one another.or first kiss，etc.

I have never really been one to participate in festivities of Valentine's Day，not only for the obvious reasons（not much of a dater to say the least），but more so that I just do not believe in designating one day to show someone you love or care about them，let alone buy that person a bunch of stuff for the sake of participating in the holiday.

I look at the day in the same manner that I do the"con-cept"of church or temple.Many people who are devoted to their faith dedicate one day a week to attending a building in order to show respect and worship.My personal issue with this is，if religion is something personal，why does one feel obligated to attend a service？Is it wrong to be religious and worship in private on a semi daily/weekly level alone？

I do not want to discuss religion today，I just wanted to illustrate a contrast between what I feel are social inconsis-tencies based on past models that were set in place and taught to future generations.I believe that the"concept"of Valentine's Day is one that is inherently good.I believe there is nothing wrong with showing a bit love more so on a ded-icated day，just as the"concept"of mass group worship is inherently good as well.

Tip：众所周知，2月14日是情人节。无论你是喜欢还是厌恶这个节日，这都是事实。我个人觉得情人节无非是像霍尔马克节日一样，其商业意味早己超过节日本身的意义。我无法理解专门用一天向某个特别的人表示你有多在乎他/她，难道这种表达一年只该有一次吗？我从未真正参与过任何庆祝情人节的活动，更多是因为我不相信在指定的一天向某人表示你爱或者在乎他/她，更别说为了参与这个节日买一堆东西了。我看待情人节的方式和我对教堂或者寺庙的理解一致。很多人出于信仰，每周专门腾出一天去表达自己的敬意和膜拜。对此，我个人的看法是，如果宗教属于私人事情，为何人们会觉得自己有义务去参加礼拜呢？将表达个人信仰以每半天/每周的标准来限定，本身不就是错误的吗？今天我不想讨论宗教，只是用一个对比来说明。我相信情人节的“理念”本身是好的，在特定的一天多表达一点爱意也没什么错。

My gripe is with the material angle.I do not believe that money spent translates to love or a demonstration of affec-tion.More so，it seems to be insulting to us all that we live in a world where we expect gifts and place a high value on ma-terial desires.Many people define their whole lives and worth by material and monetary standards.People wonder why our youth is growing up with a sense of entitlement and be-ing addicted to aspects of life which do not matter.Money can make life easier but it should not define who we are， nor should our possessions，or lavish gifts.

I do not want to devalue the notion of giving，or doing something for someone special.Though I do feel there are more constructive ways about doing so.We do not need a"special day"to show someone intense love，we should be doing so on a regular basis.

Tip：令我反感的是以物质角度来诠释这个节日。我不相信花掉的金钱会转化为爱或者证明爱。很多人用物质和金钱标准来定义他们的整个人生和个人价值。金钱能使生活变得更轻松，但是不应该用来定义我们自身，也不应该用我们所拥有的东西或者昂贵的礼物来定义。我不想贬低给予或者为你在意的人做些事情这种想法，虽然我的确认为有更具建设性的方式来表达爱意。我们不需要“特别的一天”来向某人表达强烈的爱，而是应该经常这么做。

For all those out there who are in relationships please do something nice for your special someone not because you feel that you have to，do it because you want to.Do it because it will make you feel good to do something for them. Valentine's Day gives us all a good excuse to do something nice and out of the ordinary，and this"not so ordinary something"does not have to be something that costs anything at all.

This act of love should not ever be attached to a price tag.Sit down with your special someone and just enjoy a night with them.Maybe go for a long walk or drive and just look at the stars and tell that person what they mean to you.You could always write a letter or a poem to give the person.The point is，if you are in a relationship embrace the holiday for the other person.You may be totally against the holiday，like l am，but if it means something else to someone，do something out of love，isn't that what life is all about the love？

Tip：所有处在恋爱关系中的人们，请发自内心地为你们的另一半做些美好的事情，不是出于不得不这么做，而是因为做这些事情会让你感觉很好。情人节给我们所有人一个很好的理由去做一些美好的、不同寻常的事情，而这种“不同寻常的事情”并非一定要花很多钱才能办到。与你们的另一半，并肩坐享一个美好的夜晚；也许你们可以一起徒步或驾车远行，只是看星星，并告诉那个人，他/她对你多么重要；你还可以给他/她写封信，或者写首诗。重点在于，为了你的另一半，你要接受这个节日。你或许压根不想过这个节，就像我一样，但是如果这对你的另一半具有某种意义，那么出于爱，你一定要为对方做点什么，爱不就是生活的全部吗？