Well, the pink and red heart decor is officially on the walls which means North America’s most polarizing holiday is upon us once again.
To some of us, Valentine’s Day is a sweet testament to loved ones that’s been pulled straight out of a Hallmark movie, and to others, a corporate ploy conceived straight out of a nightmare. I’m not sure about you, but I find this constant tug-of-war between those who hate it and those who love it more exhausting than it’s worth and I’m over it. We don’t have to pick a side like it’s Montagues versus Capulets.
Sure, it’s easy to feel the overbearing pressure to have a significant other on this day and to shower them with flowers, chocolate, and an assortment of heart-shaped gifts that they don’t need. And yes, it’s easy to despise this pattern as it rounds the corner every year like clockwork. But let’s be real: who cares? This day doesn’t deserve the melodrama that we’ve attributed to it, and because of this, every year we miss a really great opportunity to actually celebrate our love.
Stop your eye rolling, I haven’t tricked you into reading an article that’s secretly vouching for the ooey-gooey romance of true love, I’m just pointing out that there is more to love than date night and by suffocating Valentine’s Day with the pressures of society, we miss out on that.
For those of us in relationships, it’s a lot easier to participate in the cliché, but are we showing our affections because our love is overflowing, and we simply cannot help but to put it on display, or because we feel like we have to? If we’re being honest, this pressure leads us to hate the holiday too, despite our best intentions.
The dressing up, the gift-giving and getting, the going out with your partner, it’s all fun. But it’s fun on other days of the year, not so much when there’s an invisible standard you think you have to measure up to to prove that your love is real. Maybe you are the type to unapologetically dive head first into V-Day, maybe it is the catalyst you need for the grand gesture you’ve always wanted to pull off… but maybe you should take a step back and remember that you’re free to express yourself in your own time, with your own love language.
Those of us not in a relationship, let’s not even begin to describe how much it sucks,. Yes, it can suck. It can feel horribly lonely and isolating, but let’s be the glass-half-full type of people here, please. Do you love your friends? Your parents? Grandparents? Siblings, cousins, even a pet? Yet, when we’re single on Cupid’s Day, we declare that we’re going to “die alone”. Um… what?! Am I the only one who sees something wrong with that?
Allow me to be the one to put the record straight- you are never alone. There are always people that love you. We don’t have to subscribe to the notion that love is equivalent to romance- especially when most of the people that we love, and who love us, are not people we are romantically involved with. Romance is only a small part of love- a wonderful part- but small nonetheless.
If there is one day a year that we should be happy because others are happy, love because we are loved, and show kindness because we can, it’s Valentine’s Day. Anger, sadness, and other negative emotions have no place here. Instead of trudging through the day feeling obliged to live up to faux-societal expectations, when February 14th comes around, you can decide to be happy, decide to be grateful, decide to show kindness. I promise you’ll feel better if you do.
So while Valentine’s Day still might not be everyone’s cup of tea, just take a breath and remember that it’s also not that big of a deal.
Happy Heart Day, everyone. Sending you all the love from HerCampus, xoxo.
