A bouquet of flowers, a heart shaped box full of chocolates, teddy bears that say, ‘I love you berry much,’ and annoying couples displaying a tremendous amount of PDA. These are all the things that come to my head when I think of Valentine’s day.
There are several beliefs as to how Valentine’s day came about. In Roman Catholic belief, there is a tale about how St. Valentine did some noble deed one way or another and Valentine’s day is used to commemorate the death of this saint. Others think that Valentine’s day was used to try and make the Lupercalia festival more Christian. The Lupercalia festival was a violent festival of sorts honoring Faunus, a Roman god. This shows that Valentine’s day goes above and beyond the hallmark.
There have been plenty of Valentine’s days where I thought I wasn’t allowed to celebrate the love in my life. The reason being that it wasn’t the right type of love, I wasn’t in a relationship. Considering that Valentine’s day is approaching and I’m going to tell you why Valentine’s day isn’t just for couples and anyone and everyone can celebrate.
Every year on Valentine’s day, I would wake up to some chocolates and a Valentine’s day related bear there from my parents. There’s only been one Valentine’s day where I wasn’t at my parents’ house, but instead 4,500 miles away in a small little dorm in the UK. I got home from my classes to an email telling me that I needed to go to the mailroom. Lo and behold, flowers from my parents made its way into my arms that Valentine’s day. It’s a tradition my parents started in order to let me know that no matter where I am or who I’m with they always will be my valentines.
This allowed me to realize that anyone can celebrate Valentine’s day with anyone they love. Valentine’s day is a day to emphasize your love for someone, anyone. You could just simply text your best friend that you love them, get your parents a box of chocolates, get your sister some flowers. Love doesn’t stop at romance.
Within the past few years, the societal pressure of needing a romantic partner for Valentine’s day has slowly, very slowly, started to fade. This is partially thanks to Galentine’s day. An attempt to turn Valentine’s day into a women empowerment day instead of just a day for couples. This allows women to use the love of Valentine’s to lift each other up. This valentine’s day sends out a text to all the women that inspire you and tell them so.
There are plenty of ways of which a person can turn Valentine’s day from a day about couples and romance to just a day of love and appreciation for the ones that mean the world to them. Valentine’s day didn’t start with couples, it doesn’t have to end with them.