On Feb. 14, thousands of couples come together to celebrate their lives with their partners. Sounds like such a positive holiday. We tend to only think about chocolates and oversized teddy bears, yet people never focus on the negative aspects of Valentine’s Day. Even though I’m in a long-term relationship, I find Valentine’s Day to be a depressing holiday. Here’s my reasoning behind why Valentine’s Day shouldn’t be taken seriously anymore.
One main reason that everyone seems to think about is the people who don’t have a partner to spend time with on this couple-festive holiday. The “single-pringles” is what they’re mostly referred to as. Especially in high school and college, single people get to see just how alone they are as love is being rubbed right in their faces all day. As someone who’s been both single and taken, being single and seeing happy couples isn’t the prettiest sight to see. Valentine’s Day shouldn’t focus on only one element of love. For those who are single on Valentine’s Day, think of the “love” aspect as self-love. All single ladies and gentlemen should spend this holiday season with self-care, whether it’s watching a movie, eating from your favorite restaurant or spending time with friends and family.
The next group of people to focus on are the couples who don’t show their love outwardly. This category is for couples who like to keep their personal life and relationships more private. For example, this means there’s not much public display of affection (PDA), no social media posts, etc. Personally, this is how my boyfriend and I are. I have one post on my Instagram profile of him out of the almost two years we’ve been together. Randomly, I’ll have him in my stories but they go away after 24 hours. In our relationship, we don’t make Valentine’s Day a huge priority besides maybe a batch of chocolate-covered strawberries, which you can NEVER go wrong with. I at least find it more sexy and intimate if I keep my relationships under wraps.
Valentine’s Day is an overrated holiday, to say the least. As I said earlier, Feb. 14 should focus on other kinds of love besides romantic love. Think about when we were younger when none of us had partners or a valentine. You’d wake up in the morning with a card from your parents and have candy for breakfast. Then, you’d go to school and hand out a mini card with a piece of candy attached to it that your mom and you put time and effort into the night before. Later, you’d come home from school and show your family how loved you are by your classmates and go to the holiday dance at night. What I’m trying to say is as we’ve gotten older, Valentine’s Day has become this complicated holiday that lots of people don’t care to celebrate.
P.S. If my one ex is reading this: Next time I say I don’t want an oversized teddy bear, don’t proceed to buy me a freaking teddy bear.