For many years, I was against Valentine’s Day. I thought it was overrated, overhyped and overly corny. Every year, as February rolled around, I dreaded the day. Huge teddy bears made me sick, chocolate made me fat, and roses seemed pointless. As the years passed by, my dislike for Valentine’s Day only grew more. It took me having a valentine to realize that Valentine’s Day was so meaningless to me because, before then, the closest I ever got to having a valentine was through the cards and candy students annually brought to class in elementary school.
It was that moment that I realized people who hate Valentine’s Day are probably the people without a valentine. It wasn’t the holiday itself that frustrates people; it’s all the happy couples they see around them. It’s true that somebody could have a valentine one year and love the day and the next year not have one and despise it. Our generation has left out the purpose of the holiday, to spread love, and turned it into who can buy their significant other the most expensive gift.
Valentine’s Day is about showing love and appreciation for anyone of importance to us, not just a significant other. It took me a while to come to that realization, but I think our generation is so focused on having a relationship that if we don’t, we shun holidays and traditions that are commercialized as romantic. I even found myself hating New Year’s once because while everyone was kissing their significant others at the ball drop, I was scrolling down my Twitter feed interacting with all my other bitter and lonely followers.
Here’s an idea that may burst some bubbles: share love with friends and family. Although having a romantic companion can be nice, the absence of one should not prohibit one from doing something. Most importantly, it should not cause embarrassment. I’ve seen people tease others for being single, while some mock others for being too sprung on their significant other. The moral of the story is either way, people will have stuff to say. So enjoying a holiday like this should be fun. Whether we’re single, taken or “it’s complicated”, we should not let the opinions of others, pop culture or even retail store advertisements change our outlook on the holiday.
We have to remember to care more about reminding those we love about why we love them. Some people misinterpret that and think the holiday is dumb because it should take more than a holiday to show love ― and, yes, we should show people that we love them every day. But this holiday is not about making up for what we didn’t say or do; it’s simply going out of our way to do more than we normally do.
We also need to stop letting social media pictures define what we think Valentine’s Day should be. We can’t even get through Martin Luther King Jr. Day before the “Buy me this for Valentine’s Day” memes hit the Internet. Let’s be realistic ― different people are in different places in life; if one’s significant other can barely afford to take his or her partner to Benihana, there is no reason to expect a diamond ring and matching Audi.
That’s another reason why people tend to think so negatively of Valentine’s Day when they are single ― there are way too many expectations for what the day should be about. How about we just enjoy spending time with someone we love: best friend, parent, cousin, anyone. For those who have a significant other, good. But those of us who don’t shouldn’t count this holiday out. In the case of Valentine’s Day yay vs. nay, we the people should vote yay.
