Corporate holidays can sometimes drive home a feeling of existential loneliness that most people are pretty good at hiding from every other day of the year. Valentine’s Day may perhaps be the worst of them. Target and CVS start their overzealous decorations before you’ve even recovered from your New Years hangover. Why do we start the year off with romance on our minds? And most importantly what kind of romance are we really putting the emphasis on?
The concept of Galentine’s Day is that every year, when February rolls around, women reach out to the other women in their life and celebrate Valentines Day in the name of female empowerment and love. The notion of Galentine’s Day is slowing changing what the long-celebrated holiday of love really means. The idea that Valentine’s Day is only a day for lovers in romantic relationship’s feels kind of outdated today. The pressure of having a Valentine certainly means something different in adulthood, long past the days of anxiously waiting for handwritten notes with “circle yes or no” scribbled on them. For an adult juggling school or work, and a plethora of other real world responsibilities, it’s just another day.
However, with everything that’s happened within the past year, maybe celebrating the little things (even corporate holidays) can provide that small burst of positivity everyone needs once in awhile. Grab a tacky Valentines Day card from Target and write something to your grandma. Send your sister something nice. Set up a zoom date with your old roommates, pop a bottle of Barefoot while you’re at it. The notion that Valentines Day has to be some extravagant celebration of love in the form of expensive reservations or gift boxes can prevent us from seeing all the other different ways the holiday can be celebrated.
So whatever you decide to do February 14th, try sending a little extra love out into the universe. After a truly grueling, depressing, and unprecedented year, we should take advantage of every chance to make someone feel good, however small the act may be. Sending flowers to loved ones, making sure people know you care or even shooting a kind text can make the world of a difference to someone else. In 2021, let’s reach out in ways big and small to make sure we are taking care of others and celebrating the little victories we can find when times are so uncertain and uncomfortable.