Why Valentine's Day is just another day for me and for many single people

Valentine's Day is supposed to be a day on which people celebrate their love, on which people who are in love let those they love know. Many people send Valentine cards and enjoy receiving them. Many people may ask others how many Valentines they got?

In my case I can only remember two and that was many many years ago. One was a huge rabbit and the other was a more traditional red heart design.

Interestingly both Valentines were from young women named Jill, and naturally I have wondered why this was? I would have been about 19 then. That means that in most of my adult life I have never received a Valentine card.

I actually went out for a short time with one of the Jills and she also gave me a silver heart pendant inscribed with my name. She said she couldn't live without me but then she went off with a friend of mine. But before that she had sent me one of the two Valentines I ever received.

I kept the cards for many years but eventually threw them out.

Of course I am pleased to know that people do enjoy this time of the year and enjoy celebrating their love, but at the same time I am well aware that for many single people and for many lonely people it can make them only too aware of the fact that they are on their own. For these people it can be a very depressing day and not a happy one.

For me personally, Valentine's Day long ago became just another day, a day that meant nothing to me apart from showing me how unsuccessful I have been for most of my life when it came to relationships and attracting lovers. I am sure for many other people it is the same.

Of course over the years, I have had Valentine messages posted online at sites like Myspace and I have no doubt posted messages and sent email replies wishing people a Happy Valentine's Day, however, this is very different from receiving a card through the mail. It is very different to having a partner in your life with whom you can celebrate your love together on that day.

When I was a young man I used to send Valentines and send flowers to girlfriends but those days are long gone.

I had a friend called Phil, who was a singer-songwriter like me, and he wrote a song he used to perform with the lines: "One, two, three times, I tempted her with roses, but it didn't work out, no, no, no, no, try and try again but is it all in vain, like trying to sell sunshine in a drought?"

Phil never had much success in his love life or with his songs, which was a great shame because he was a very talented writer and singer. He became a depressive and an alcoholic and I don't know what he is doing now but I use him as an example of what loneliness can do.

I once wrote the lyrics to a Valentine's Day Blues but I didn't even bother doing anything with it as a song or keeping it safe and can't remember the words.

Of course, just like Christmas, Easter, Mother's Day, etc I am well aware that Valentine's Day has become a huge commercial operation. It is a time when card manufacturers and shops can count on doing well, it is a time when florists can sell plenty of roses and other flowers, it is a time when venues can host Valentine's Day parties and couples can enjoy romantic candlelit meals at restaurants.

It just seems a great shame that people have just one day in a year that is the day for celebrating love. Surely every day should be a day for this?

Yesterday I was in the supermarket here and saw a really depressing sight. On sale there were transparent plastic heart-shaped boxes full of those massive tasteless and probably genetically-engineered strawberries that have been grown using herbicides, pesticides and artificial fertiliser.

It reminded me of a line from an old Bob Dylan song It's alright, Ma, (I'm only bleeding), where he sings: " Flesh-coloured Christs that glow in the dark, it's easy to see without looking too far, not much is really sacred."

Is this what Valentine's day has come to?