This year, Valentine’s Day is going to be different for me since I just got out of a five-year-long relationship. For the past months, I have been rediscovering things about me and my peers. I have grown up both personally and professionally, in ways that are already helping me build my future goals and aspirations once I graduate from college. For that reason, I’m going to share these five activities that I will be doing for Valentine’s Day, or week, that will help me find another meaning to this holiday.
- Celebrating Galentine’s Day
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Recovered from: Pinterest
Because of COVID-19, I didn’t have a “normal” college experience. It was difficult to make new friendships and socialize. Even so, I made some friends in online classes, and then we met at campus. We have been wanting to have a picnic but there have been two problems: our course schedules and the weather. Since we couldn’t have our Christmas and Secret Santa activity, we are going to celebrate Galentine’s Day instead. With our Secret Cupid and pizza party, we’ll create the perfect occasion to reconnect with each other and talk about those changes that our lives have had since the last time we all got together.
- Make thoughtful gifts and messages
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Recovered from: Pinterest
Letting those we love know we care about them, is just as necessary as recognizing when we are wrong. So, during this day, don’t miss the opportunity to give a little gift to those who have always been supporting you and who, unfortunately, we often take for granted most often. When I say “make thoughtful gifts,” I mean giving intentional gifts. Anyone can give a gift, whether in an exchange at work, school, university, with family, and so on. So to make gifts on this day meaningful, it is important to know the person you are going to give the gift to. Giving something to that friend or family member that you appreciate so much, takes on more meaning when it is accompanied by “this reminded me of you, that’s why I gave it to you.”
- Box for Anonymous Messages
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Recovered from: Pinterest
Another activity that’s different and entertaining is making a mailbox where anonymous letters are left. I’ve done this activity with one of my groups of teenagers at work and it has been a very rewarding experience to see how excited they were to decorate the box and divide up the work to achieve this goal. The idea is that the box remains in a specific place, and on February 14, the respective managers will have the task of distributing it to its owners on behalf of the anonymous writers.
- Making Desserts
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This is an idea that I’d always had in mind but had never put into practice. Making Valentine’s Day themed desserts is a creative way to share a little gift with those we care about. In my case, not only will I be sharing with my university friends, but I will also prepare a heart-shaped dessert with Nutella to distribute to my work colleagues and my students. I’ll be following the above recipe found on Instagram.
- Self Love
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Recovered from: Pinterest
Last but not least, a self-love activity to do intimately and independently is also necessary and worthy of being on this list. As I mentioned before, this is the first Valentine’s Day that I will spend differently than the way I did the previous five years. So, on this occasion, in addition to spending quality time with my friends, I also decided to reserve some time for myself, since love, as I mentioned before, is more than the love that’s found with a loving partner. So, I decided to follow this video from Pinterest that a friend sent me, so I could make my own paper flowers.
February 14 is a day that goes beyond Valentine’s Day. It is a day to also celebrate love and friendship, the love of those who accompany us every day and that is not necessarily due to a relationship with your loving partner. The love between friends and family and the bonds of friendship that we form over the years, are equally important. So don’t let the day pass without first having dedicated a little of that love to yourself and another little to the people most important to you.