Valentines day was always my favorite holiday growing up. I would wake up to every February 14th to heart shaped pancakes and french toast made by my father and presents wrapped in the prettiest wrapping outside my bedroom door from my sisters and mom. Large bags filled with chocolates, jewelry, and heart adorned stationary sets would fill my hallway. The entire day felt like a fairytale to me. I just adored the blush colored valentines day cards of all designs in tiny envelopes we would exchange in school that would be waiting to be read on my desk.
So naturally, I graduated the fifth grade and moved onto middle school. Had my first kiss which solidified my first real teenage crush. I really hoped he would ask me to be his Valentine. Merely reminiscing on those days are painfully embarrassing. When February rolled around and all of a sudden I began to wonder. Who’s to say this one day out of all the 365 is to determine another’s love for us? All of a sudden the pressure of Valentine’s Day became such a build up throughout the entire month of February to the point that I declared a teen angst infused outright hatred towards it. Unfortunately, this feeling would linger through most High School. It became a day of kindness and exchanging disney princess shaped temporary tattoos to a day I ended up on a couch watching Clueless with my best friend, eating heart shaped candy out of Pez dispensers while crying over Hollywood’s loss of Brittany Murphy.
As I got older, and moved out of the house and into my collegiate years of independence and supposed maturity, the negative emotions towards V-Day deepened. The plush toys crowding the aisles of Target that I used to love now merely served as a road block to the wine isle. When did my favorite childhood holiday all of a sudden be one I dreaded? Was I a bad person for not recognizing the universal day of love? It was finally time to reverse this negative way of thinking.
I was originally going to write a sob story about being single on Valentines day and how we should create a revolutionizing movement to end the holiday after all. I thought out of the goodness of my heart, I’ll spare you. So, given my decision not to write a mundane story of single awareness on V-Day, I decided to use this story as a way to explore the different ways you can begin to appreciate the holiday once again as I have chosen to.
Created by the evil doings of the Hallmark corporation or in commemoration of a patron saint, everyone has got their reasons to celebrate love on the 14th. We often forget that love can be felt everywhere around us. I decided to celebrate it this year by doing something heart felt for close friends, family, and the two girls, aged 8 and 13, I tutor after school. As humans, we often forget that love can be felt everywhere around us. Instead of looking for the obvious romantic love, I decided to celebrate the ones who show me love the most. This year, I threw a surprise Valentine’s Day picnic for the girls I tutor. I decided to make their Valentine’s Day just as magical as it was for me when I was younger. We set up a blanket and enjoyed a spread heart shaped pizza, pink frosted cupcakes, and bags full of goodies. I wrote all of my dear and distant friends Valentine’s Day cards and sent them off as far as Spain. Writing a small Valentine note to each of my closest buddies and family members felt nostalgic. Maybe I can’t give out hologram Hello Kitty themed valentines cards anymore, but I can still put a smile on a few faces for those who have been kind to me in the past. It may have taken me a while to fully appreciate today, but Valentine’s Day might just be my favorite holiday once again.
–Avril Clarke, co-director of Social Media for Her Campus FIU