Attention all single girls: this isn’t a pity post for you. As much as we love those articles that remind us it’s okay to be single on Valentine’s Day because we’ve got our girls to back us up, sometimes it feels like the internet is just throwing us one big pity party. Don’t be fooled though.
So, let me revise my first few words. Attention all single girls, attention taken girls, attention ALL girls! Every girl should have a galentine, collegiettes™. What is a galentine you ask?
A galentine is the girl in your life that’s there for you through thick and thin. When we’re in college away from our families, our girls are the most important people in our lives. While everyday should be a day to appreciate them and the countless things we tolerate with them and for them, this 14th can be a day to celebrate it a little extra. Having a galentine doesn’t have to mean you’re alone and single and just spending time with a friend to forget that very fact. That’s all a stigma, and we don’t like stigmas, do we?
If you ask me, having a galentine means that you have a support system like no other. She is someone that has seen you at your worst, thriving at your best, and seen you as something extraordinary even if you’ve felt completely ordinary. While being showered with roses, chocolates and presents from the person that swept us off our feet seems like a wonderful idea, we need to acknowledge that before they came along she was there (and let’s get real, probably helped you carefully articulate the texts you sent to get that person in the first place). And if there’s no Mr. or Ms. Perfect for you at the moment, it’s all the more reason to appreciate the girl that’s sitting next to you with a fresh batch of cookies and the best chick flick from the 2000s you can find.
If you don’t have a significant other to share the day with, you know the drill. But even if you do have someone to share the day of love with, try setting aside the afternoon or even part of the next day to celebrate the wonderful friendship you have with your galentine. Because at the end of the day Carrie Bradshaw might have been right (and excuse me as I modify this quote to be a little more open-minded): “Maybe our girlfriends are our soulmates and guys and girls are just people to have fun with.”