Celebrate Every Love on Valentine’s Day
On Valentine’s Day, there is so much pressure to acknowledge the status of your relationship, or in some cases, the lack thereof. One look on Instagram on Feb. 14 shows a clear divide between those who seem happy in their relationship and those who are single. Sometimes referred to as “Singles Awareness Day,” Valentine’s Day is either celebrated or ignored. Either you are in a relationship and loving it, or you are single and are supposed to be drowning yourself in ice cream and tears while watching “The Notebook.” Or at least that’s what it seems.
When I was in middle school, high school, and most of college I was single. My feelings towards the holiday swung from bitter resentment, to jealousy around the happiness of others, to almost indifference. In London, I dressed in red and danced in the streets to the sounds of Prince, heading to class before heading to the pubs.
In past years, during my tenure as a sorority sister, I celebrated those around me who have consistently shown me love, who have supported me in my decisions to wear heels too high or to work out at early hours in the morning. These women are my sisters, my best friends and now thanks to Drake’s lyricism, they’re my “right hand,” and my “go-to”. Valentine’s Day should be a celebration of every type of love, whether it is self-love, platonic love, familial love or romantic love.
We shouldn’t dedicate just one day to telling the people we care about that we care about them. We should not pressure those who are in relationships to overexert themselves by spending copious amounts of money and we also should not pressure those who are single to be upset with their situations. Being in a relationship is nice, but so is being single. Both should be celebrated in their own way instead of being compared to one another. Whether you are in a relationship or single, you are loved. That should be the focus of Valentine’s Day.
For those who are in relationships, there shouldn’t be a great expectation to celebrate in the most grandiose way and spend as much money as one can on chocolates, cards and oversized stuffed animals. For those who are single, there shouldn’t be an expectation to wallow in sadness and listen to Adele for the whole day, however amazing her discography is. Valentine’s Day should be a celebration of self, and it should be a celebration of the love we surround ourselves with every day.
Love is a sensation that cannot be monetized. It cannot be bought or sold, traded or bartered. Love should be celebrated as frequently as it can, and it should be celebrated in whichever way seems fit. If celebrating your love means take-out Pad Thai and binge-watching old seasons of “Scrubs” with your boo, that’s what you should do. If celebrating your love means brunch with your best friends, or dancing the night away under the shine of the disco ball, then that’s what you should do.
I do believe that love surrounds us every day, and we should take the time to celebrate that love as much as we can. If you are single, take the time to recognize the presence of love, not the absence of a significant other. To quote a movie that showcased Colin Firth’s sweater-wearing abilities and that few things are more heartbreaking than Emma Thompson crying to Joni Mitchell, “Love actually is all around.”
And now, this:
Songs about love that don’t make you want to pull all feathers out of your pillows :
love you for a long time, maggie rogers
dark side of the gym, the national
you & me, dave mattews band
On (or around) this day in history:
February 15, 2012 — sophomore year of high school
Those cliche “butterflies” that always came. Its true what they say “you know you like someone by the way they make you feel about yourself” and you made me feel like anything was possible. Like it was worth it. I’d get over you, if I knew how.