My name is Charlotte and I really, really love Valentine’s Day. It’s my favorite day of the year. I love that Valentine’s Day is a celebration of love, and pink, and hearts – all of my favorite things. On Valentine’s Day, I can wear head to toe pink and hearts and I look festive, rather than immature or crazy. I love to get into the spirit of every holiday, but since Valentine’s Day is my favorite holiday, I put a little extra effort into my festive, all-pink and heart-filled holiday outfit.
I’ve loved Valentine’s Day for as long as I can remember. My favorite color has always been pink, and I’ve always loved candy, of course, and I’ve always been of the opinion that candy shaped like a heart is just more enjoyable to eat than the same candy in its normal, non-festive shape. I loved Valentine’s Day in elementary school, when we would always have a class party and exchange valentines, so by the end of the day you had a bag full of candy and cards. I loved picking out the valentines and candy I would give out (usually they had kittens on them, unless the puppies or bunnies were especially cute that year) and choosing which card would go to which classmate. In high school, I used my love for Valentine’s Day for a fundraiser for student government in which I sold candy grams that I made and delivered to the recipients in class.
So it makes me sad when I see people who don’t love Valentine’s Day like I do (although, in all fairness, there is probably no one else who loves Valentine’s Day as much as I do). Too many people think of Valentine’s Day as either a day devoted to couples and pushed by stores trying to sell cards, candy, and flowers; or as “Singles Awareness Day.” Because I love Valentine’s Day so much, I think of it as much more than these two opposing stereotypes.
Valentine’s Day is a celebration of love in all of its forms. It’s the day to celebrate the love you have for your friends, parents, siblings, pets, sorority sisters, classmates, club members, anyone. Perhaps Valentine’s Day has gotten too commercialized, with all of the candy, flowers, cards, and gifts. Is buying something for someone you love to celebrate a holiday all about love really such a hardship though? And was facetiously renaming Valentine’s Day something with initials that spell “sad” really necessary? Valentine’s Day is supposed to be about love and happiness, not envy and sadness.
My love for Valentine’s Day is in no way related to whether or not I’m in a relationship (I’m not). You don’t have to be in a relationship to celebrate love on Valentine’s Day. I always spend the day with friends and family. My mom has been my valentine every year for as long as I can remember, making filling little heart-shaped buckets with chocolate and conversation hearts for my dad, my brothers, and I. Maybe I don’t have a boyfriend to bring me roses and a heart-shaped box of chocolate on Valentine’s Day, but I’ll still feel loved.
I would love if every day was Valentine’s Day, and people wore pink, and passed out cards, and told the people that they care about how much they mean to them all the time. We shouldn’t have to settle for only one day a year when we can unashamedly tell people that we love them if that’s how we feel every day. Since Valentine’s Day does only come around once a year, I plan on celebrating all of the love in my life with lots of pink, hearts, and candy, and I hope you will consider doing the same.
So, since I love Valentine’s Day so much and I am the Events Director for Sonoma State’s Her Campus chapter, I have planned an event for all of us on campus to celebrate love on Valentine’s Day. I would love to see our lovely readers there to celebrate with us! For more information as the day approaches, make sure to follow our social media accounts, we’re always @hcsonomastate!
Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!