Valentine’s Day has always been a tricky holiday to manoeuver. Some people LOVE Valentine’s Day for the opportunity to showcase their affection for their partner and other significant people in their lives. Others can’t stand Valentine’s Day, not necessarily for lack of an attractive lovey-dovey partner, but because they hate buying into the commercialist traditions our society has adopted, such as greeting cards, buying flowers and chocolates, etc.
As someone who both loves and hates Valentine’s Day, I’m always curious see where others stand, and to try and adopt some new perspectives if I can. So I decided to turn to the Her Campus UVic Editorial Team and see what my fellow writers thought of the infamous V-Day.
Some ladies do really love Valentine’s Day because of the opportunity for couples everywhere to be able to showcase their affection for one another, and because it is an excuse to blow off work and school and spend some quality time together, especially if it’s long distance love. They really love buying into the culture, and soaking in the cute (and funny) Valentine’s memes, candy grams, and everything V-Day.
Others were not so keen. There were a couple of other ladies who, like myself, see Valentine’s Day as a reminder of our continued single-dom. It does in fact send images of crying into a tub of cookie dough ice cream flashing through my mind (Just kidding! … It was Ben & Jerry’s Peanut Butter Half Baked).
There were the select few, (but I consider these ladies to be role models), who really didn’t care whether they celebrated Valentine’s Day or not so long as they made the post Valentine’s Day chocolate sales the following day. Can I get an amen?!
Finally, there were a couple ladies who I believe to be truly wise. These ladies recognized that Valentine’s Day, despite the focus on couples, can be a day to love and appreciate anyone and everyone. If you have some incredible friends, it’s a chance to either head out on the town, or bunker down in the living room with some snacks and rom coms. Especially in university, being away from home, Valentine’s Day can be a chance to reach out to your family back home. It can also be a day to love, appreciate, and pamper yourself.
So what’s my conclusion? I can’t say that my V-Day loving team members have swayed me into partaking more in the Valentine’s Day culture, but I also can’t say I truly detest the day either. I’ve found a happy medium: smiling … into a rather large bowl of Half Baked ice cream.