A quirky way to celebrate Valentine’s Day

It seems that every Valentine’s Day, there are groups of single people who choose to spend the day filled with anti-valentine sentiment and overall bitterness toward the occasion.

But, what about people who are single, but not at all bitter, on Valentine’s Day? What of people who aren’t anti-relationship, but rather anti-compulsory relationships?

Well, according to author Sasha Cagen, they would be considered “quirkyalones” – which isn’t a bad thing at all.

As Cagen defines it on her website, quirkyalone.net, a quirkyalone is “a person who enjoys being single, but is not opposed to being in a relationship. Quirkyalones prefer being single to dating for the sake of dating. It’s a mindset. Quirkyalone is not anti-love. It is pro-love. It is not anti-dating. It is anti-compulsory dating.”

The website turns Feb. 14 into “International Quirky Alone Day,” which celebrates individuality and a free-spirited love of self-expression. The premise is that a relationship does not validate a person — his or her own opinion does. Many bitter anti-valentine proponents don’t realize this idea.

Quirkyalone.net is built around an essay, and later a novel, “Quirkyalone: A Manifesto for Uncompromising Romantics,”  penned by Cagen.  She believes in uncompromising relationships and a steady, full love of self.  She seeks to connect people who are quirkyalones through her website and encourages them with inspiring stories of exploration. The site also includes a forum to help visitors organize quirkyalone events.

The website takes pride in the history of its creation, as well as the long arms of its widespread movement. Although the homepage is rather outdated, it still offers valuable tips and ideas on how to plan a quirkyalone events, along with downloadable party tools.

The site’s blog is kept current, with articles post in 2013. It features articles, written by Cagen and a few other authors, which range from Lady Gaga’s quirkyalone status to “advice for the terminally single.”

Visitors can take Cagen’s quirkyalone “course” made easily accessible on the home page or diagnose their own “quirkyaloneness” with an online quiz and other diagnostic tests.

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