Valentine’s Day, when it doesn’t succumb to the pressures of capitalism, can be a wonderful time of year to celebrate your significant other. However, if you’re anything like me, this national holiday filled with candy hearts, ripe roses and baby cherubs often leaves you feeling lonelier than you normally do. Whether it’s from a recent breakup or long-standing singleness, you might not feel any reason to do something special come Feb. 14.
Rather than dwelling on hypothetical romance or dreading Valentine’s Day altogether, I suggest looking for love where it matters most: from your friends.
As we all know, friendships are some of the closest and most joyous bonds we can cultivate throughout our lifetimes. When we spend time with our friends, we enter unmatched safe spaces. Together, we’re allowed to ugly laugh and cry, make dumb mistakes, respond to text messages hours later, share oddball opinions and simply exist as we are: perfectly imperfect, completely true to ourselves. We know that our friends won’t judge us or love us any less. And, yes, friendships often take hard work, but it’s without extreme pressure, incredibly high stakes, or the constant fear of breaking up. As friends, we are more understanding and accepting than anyone else.
With that being said, strengthening our friendships is crucial to everyone involved. By increasing health and happiness, decreasing the risk of disease and even furthering life expectancies, the connections we create with friends are scientifically proven to be of greater importance than relationships with partners or family. When the weight of responsibilities and expectations is shed, it’s only then that we are able to truly thrive.
Based on these reasons, celebrating Palentine’s Day is something you’ll surely want to do this year. With the obvious theme of red and pink, there are a variety of parties you can throw to celebrate your friends. From sleepovers with endless snacks and rom-coms to fancy dinner parties that evolve into playing friendship-testing games, hosting a good time with good friends can look like anything. If you’re not the best party planner, then going out on the town to paint nights, movie theaters, restaurants or fast food joints, shopping centers, or any other place you can think of (and agree on) is certain to form core memories. If you’re unfortunately separated from your friends due to too-far locations or COVID-19, then virtual parties on Zoom or group-watch sessions via Disney+ or with Teleparty work just as well. Even something as simple as calling your friends on the phone displays your deep love and care for them.
At the end of the day, it’s being together with your friends in any way possible that matters most. So instead of gushing over your partner or beating yourself up for not having one this Valentine’s Day, make time for the people who are with you through thick and thin. It is with our friends where we whole-heartedly belong; therefore, they deserve just as much recognition and celebration as the lovers do.