Valentine’s day is around the corner, which means cute pink and red decor and a lot of stress for both people with partners and those who are living their best single lives. My question is though, why? Why take a holiday meant for love and friendship and make it a stressful time of year? Valentine’s day can be a pretty chill day of hanging out, and it’s pretty easy to do so.
What even is Valentine’s day?
Valentine’s day started out as a holiday used to celebrate and honor Christian Martyr Saint Valentine. Over time the yearly feast turned into celebrations of love and appreciation for our significant others and friends. This grew, with chocolate producers in Britain beginning to produce more chocolate to be sold during this time and flower shops began selling little cards and rose sets as potential gifts. The holiday slowly began to move away from its Christian upbringing to a competition as a competition of couples. The holiday has gradually morphed into who gets who the bigger/more expensive gift and which couple goes on the most expensive date. For single people, it has turned into a holiday of potential sadness and looking for one-night stands or dates that may lead to a second. The holiday has led to more stress than anything for some people.
Why the Stress?
My question though, is why? Why does this one day have to be the day to show all of your love to another? Why put pressure on yourself and your relationship when you can honestly chill. Gifts are cute, but they can be small thought-out ones with meaning instead of a big fancy necklace. A $100 diner can be substituted for a frozen pizza, a bottle of wine, and a movie. Why do we put so much pressure on one day to be the end all be all for love? The real kicker is when people use valentines day to compare their relationships to others. I have seen many people comment on influencers’ Instagram posts of lavish valentines getaways saying things like “put this on his/her page” and “wish that was us”. It is easy to compare yourself to others, but it’s not healthy for you or your partner to compare your relationships to others, it just sets you up for failure. Valentines should be used as at most an excuse to dress up and try that fancy new restaurant downtown, and not a requirement. Smaller valentines day celebrations are valid. Galentines as hella fun and valid.
Valentine’s should be a day to relax and spend time with those who matter the most to you. Sip and paint nights, baking competitions, at home karaoke are all simple inexpensive ideas you can do with your partner or friends with no worry, that are extremely fun. There are so many simple valentines and galentines ideas for really cheap or free that stressing over the “perfect valentines day” should be a thing of the past. The day should return back to the meaning of love.