Flora Milford, Opinions Editor
If you read my Feature from this issue of The Round Table, or my Op-Ed in last year’s Valentine’s Day issue, my words in this piece may sound familiar, but in the spirit of a holiday I believe is miscelebrated, I wanted to dedicate another article to it. Valentine’s Day is one of my favorite holidays, and it’s not because I’ve had the most romantic of Valentine’s Days in my life. I love love and I love an excuse to celebrate it. The problem for so many with Valentine’s Day is that it’s marketed solely towards couples. This is isolating for people without partners, and stressful for people with. I think, instead, we should take this as a day to celebrate all the love that surrounds us.
I want to start by debunking the idea that Valentine’s Day sucks as a single person. This is not to take away from the fact that it can be hard, because that’s undoubtable, but it doesn’t have to be. If we take away the correlation between love and relationships, we are left just with love. Now that we’re here, take a moment to think about all the things you love. Perhaps your best friend, or a roommate. A family member, or your cat. Maybe you love the smell of the air when you first step outside, or a hot matcha from Hamilton’s made by a sexy barista that will draw a heart on your cup when they give you your drink (just an idea…) Whatever it is, I’m sure there is something or someone out there that you love. Center your day around that.
Alternatively (or additionally), center your day around yourself. You keep yourself going through all of this, and that is pretty amazing. Take the day to love the person that is there for you regardless. And if you are struggling to feel love for this person, take the day to do things that will help you get there.
On another note, being single means that you don’t have to stress over reaching someone else’s expectations for the day. There’s no pressure to impress. There’s also no pressure to react to something that maybe isn’t quite right. Valentine’s Day can be whatever you want it to be, not what you think it has to be for someone else.
Now that this theory has been debunked, I want to get into the capitalistic aspects of the holiday which are incredibly valid. The holiday is absolutely marketed so companies can make the most profit. This makes the day feel icky and impersonal, I get that, but beyond the Hallmark of it all, isn’t it kind of awesome to take a day to let ourselves love? And while the roots of the holiday are debated, some Christianized, and others thought to be just plain dumb, many are very sweet.
History.com (the MOST reliable source) shares two examples that resonate with me. The first is that Valentine’s Day is named for different saints of the name Valentine or Valentinus. One of these Saints was a priest in Rome during the rule of Emperor Claudius II. At this time, it was decided that single men were better soldiers than married ones, and therefore young men were not to get married. A priest by the name of Valentine saw this as unjust and continued to perform marriages in secret. He was later put to death for doing this… but isn’t that a beautiful and radical act?
Etsy
Others (and by others I am also referencing history.com) attribute the celebration to the beginning of bird’s mating season, which I think is very sweet. I realize that both of these examples reference romantic aspects of love, but we can divulge from that, or build off of it. At the end of the day, they are examples of the many different ways there are to love. While Hallmark may capitalize off this holiday, we can accredit it to other instances. Or we can ignore them altogether and make it our own.
Finally, I want to get into the underlying (though not so subtle) theme of this article. Love is a remarkable thing. Obviously, we should celebrate the things we love everyday. It’s not that we can just leave it untended until February 14th, but a day that exists as a reason to surround ourselves with it is special. Why not put on a colorful outfit, or bake some cookies for your friends, or take a walk and fall in love with the world around you? I plan to kiss all my friends on the nose, put pink glitter on my eyelids, draw hearts on all your cups (I may or may not be the sexy barista who will make you a yummy matcha), eat cereal with someone I have a crush on, take myself on a nice long walk, say hello to everyone I walk by, and lean into how beautiful it is that there are so many things I love.
Featured Image Credit: National Geographic Kids
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