As someone who has never been in a relationship, Valentine’s Day was something that never really appealed to me. For February, the city turns red and we single gals are constantly reminded of the lack of love in our lives. My trips to Omni are no longer plain and simple. As Valentine’s Day approaches my eyes are constantly strained from seeing the colour red and pink in every corner of my life. Couples that were once crumbling have magically pieced themselves back together as the love they no longer share is posted all over their social media typing all the sappy things they have never said out loud. For one whole day, bouquets of roses and boxes of chocolate haunt my Instagram feed and the urge to go on my phone vanishes.
The day goes on and the reality that I’m 20 and my love life has been non-existent for the last 20 years sets in, as the only happy Valentine’s Day text I receive is the one from my dad. I love to romanticise life but then there is something so underwhelming about Valentine’s Day the feeling that I should be celebrating a love I do not have. I find myself looking towards my fellow single gals for the comfort that we are all in this lonely boat together.Â
While I hate the idea of valentines I love the idea of Galantines every year my college friends and I plan our Galantines. Last year we spent our Galantines in matching PJs and spent our night lost in deep chat, cosied up on the couch with enough pink sweets and enough chocolate to feed a small village, my college life can be so busy, and taking a night just to relax with the girls that mean so much to me is what warms my heart as I realise that there will come a time where we will have these galantines and our silly little chats at the early hours of the morning planning our futures together will no longer be. Galentines reminds me that instead of expressing my love for just one person I get to give it to a whole group.
Valentine’s Day means different things to different people. We all have our traditions. For my parents Valentine’s Day is barely even remembered. The day tends to start with both my parents waking up and going about their day as usual and at some point, in the day my mom will be informed that it is Valentine’s Day, and suddenly my phone starts to buzz, as my yearly job of peeling the apples after college starts once again. Valentine’s Day doesn’t need to be a big ordeal for my mom. Making her husband an apple tart is just as big of a gesture of love as buying an expensive gift. For my dad, as long as he arrived home with a bunch of flowers and the same silly card that my mom had received every year before arriving on the table, Valentine’s Day had been celebrated.
Social media has sold our generation that to express the love we have for our significant other we must spend every cent we have on them. Valentine’s Day is not about booking romantic getaways or buying the most expensive promise ring, it’s about appreciating the people we love the most. For me, Valentine’s Day is just as important as the day before, and the day after it is a reminder to those to appreciate their loved ones in the best way they can. I definitely feel as though there is a big pressure on people to go all out for their loved ones. For my dad, It’s easy to go out and buy my mom a big bouquet of expensive roses but her favourite flowers are tulips. Valentine’s Day is a celebration of love and what makes it so special is doing things that show appreciation for the people you love the most and celebrate all the things they love together.