It becomes more and more evident to me every year that people hate Valentine’s Day. I wish I was able to wrap my mind around why we bash a holiday all about love, with some of the cutest decorations and the best color scheme known to man. What isn’t there to like?
The more I think about it, I think the reason for all the Valentine’s hate is people feel like romantic love is being rubbed in their faces. I think that it should be seen as the opposite. Sure, we all know Valentine’s stereotypes: the overpriced heart-shaped boxes of chocolates, the flower bouquets, the cards with sappy, sentimental words laced inside, the list goes on. Cute, silly little gestures of love for your partner. Whether you haven’t received those things, don’t have a partner to receive them from, or just think they’re stupid, a lot of people talk down on them; and even on those who buy them for their significant other!
Love should be spread all the time, of course. We shouldn’t need a commercialized holiday to tell the people that we love that we love them. But… isn’t that the sweetest thing? A whole day dedicated to love. Aisles upon aisles of things to show someone just how much you love them. A day of sappy Instagram posts and stories, couples flooding your feed for a few hours out of the year, a behind-the-scenes look at those couples who seem to have it all figured out. Isn’t it beautiful that someone can love so much that they want to tell everyone about it?
My hot take is this: love is meant to be celebrated in all its forms. Valentine’s Day is not exclusive to romantic love! Remember in elementary school when we would bring little cards for our whole class? No one ever thought that it was romantic when we were seven years old. There wasn’t a negative connotation attached to them. It was pure fun, a display of love, no matter the relationship.
There’s no rule for the way you celebrate love, or who you celebrate. I think in all the commercialization, that tends to get lost. If someone wants to buy their best friend a little box of chocolates and a carnation at a school fundraising event, that is their display of love. If someone wants to spend time with their mother on Valentine’s Day watching their favorite movies, that is their display of love. If someone wants to buy their partner a giant box of chocolate, a gigantic teddy bear, a bouquet of flowers, or an expensive piece of jewelry: that is their display of love. That does not mean that your form of love is worse than someone else’s.
Valentine’s Day is laced with jealousy, and that shouldn’t be the case. We all have love in our lives, whether we realize that or not. Sure, not everyone has the same romantic love as some. Not everyone has the platonic love that others have with their best friend. I guarantee, though, that everyone has some form of love in their life. Maybe it’s the food you cook… the movies you watch… the joy you feel when you make a new, random purchase. The list goes on and on. Love is the most human thing we will ever experience. It is laced in everything that we do.
If you’re feeling extra down this Valentine’s season, try to let some extra love into your life. Try a new game, read a new book, take an extra nap. Do something that makes you feel good. That is love. There are no rules for it, no overarching definition that encompasses the true feeling of loving something. It just is, and that is the beautiful thing about this season.