On January 14, a holiday known as Diary Day in South Korea, couples exchange planners in which they mark down their important dates for the year.
Ah, passive-aggressive romance. Every 14th of each month is an unofficial holiday for people to express their affection in some romantic way. That’s why they’re called “love” holidays.
But they’re not holidays in the sense that anyone is excused from work or anything. Although I’m sure they would love that! Who wouldn’t? January 14th is designated
as Diary Day, where couples give exchange diaries or planners.
Diaries may include their hopes and dreams, etc. And planners should mark with their birthdays, anniversaries, future plans, and other important dates.
This is more of some people’s style. It’s downright practical! But neither a diary nor a planner floats their boat, they can opt to get a candle instead. It’s also
apparently Candle Day.
We are not sure why it’s also Candle Day, but we guess they had to fit it in somewhere since candles can be romantic as well. These candles are usually decorative, but we suppose they could also be prayer candles if they have a big test coming up or some other event that needs praying over.
Either way, it’s still a thoughtful gift. We don’t know who decided what “love” holiday would fall in for each month. It was likely a department store, much like how we refer to some holidays in the States as “Hallmark” holidays.
They were probably made up to promote sales. Don’t take tha
t as a cynical comment, though. We actually like all these holidays. It gives people a chance to take a moment and be more thoughtful.
We don’t think of these holidays as times where people have to do something, but rather as chanc
es that they get to do something. We know that sounds in a certain way, but seriously, many people completely forget to do something nice otherwise and that’s the thing about January’s “lo
ve” holiday gifts.
The diary, planner, and candle all mark the passage of time. We don’t know if that’s why it’s designated to January, the first month of a new year, but it makes sense.