It's that time of year again... cuffing season aka relationship season. The weather is officially not getting any warmer and for most of us, neither are our hearts. However, we can't help but notice how people start jumping into relationships when the snow starts falling.
We begin to ask ourselves why this season brings out the feels in all of us.
The holidays.
As soon as you go home for Thanksgiving break, relatives immediately ask if you are in a relationship.
No grandma, Facebook clearly says that I'm single-- thanks for bringing it to my attention.
It's easy to have the feelings of loneliness out of sight and out of mind because let's face it-- food is the best way to fill that void. So, you make small talk with your family, answer the routine questions about your classes, (in which the answers remain the same from last Thanksgiving) and push through the day. You hope that consuming five plates of food can excuse you from telling your aunt about that cute boy she saw you in a picture with on Facebook.
The holiday passes, you get ready to make a turkey sandwich later that night from leftovers, and you now have that small voice in the back of your head that reminds you of your lack of love life.
Why is the idea of a relationship or the "never ending quest to find your soulmate" not at the forefront of our minds until this time of year? Perhaps we will never know.
But, let's break it down-- the timeline of our longing to find someone in this winter season:
We have Christmas, New Year's and Valentine's day all in the same season.
As soon as Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You" comes on the radio the day after Thanksgiving, we all feel that pang of desire to have someone for Christmas. But why do we find ourselves feeling like this?
Social Media.
The combination of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram is the deadly trio. It highlights the most interesting parts of our lives and succeeds in making the people around us jealous. Honestly, who wants to see the girl you hated in high school off living a great life with her fourth boyfriend this year? Not to mention, she throws all of her cute winter activities in your face with a nice picture on every. social. media. account.
"Ice skating with bae"
"Making my first gingerbread house with bae"
"Tree lighting with bae<3"
"New year, new bae"
"Vday roses from bae"
We get it. You are having the time of your life and I'm sitting here with my left hand.
But, we hate to admit that there's just something about winter hats and colorful lights that make pictures seem a little cuter.
Winter Activities.
We wonder why we can't stop thinking about relationships when all the best couple activities surface around this time of year. A prime example would be looking at Christmas lights or going ice skating. No one typically enjoys walking around a shrine of lights holding their own hand. If you do then you're winning at life. People want to share this unexplainable heartwarming activity with someone else.
The same goes for ice skating-- there's just something about your mom picking you up after you fall that doesn't seem appealing anymore.So the voice in your mind gets louder, and the pressure to invite one of your friends with benefits to go skating sounds better and better. When New Year's rolls around, and midnight strikes, you dread having to turn and kiss the bottle of champagne you popped a few minutes early-- all the while ignoring the couple directly next to you who are ringing in the new year.
Although these holidays are supposed to be a time of celebration with friends and family, we can't help but feel like we're missing out by not having someone to share them with.
Your friends all seem to be in relationships.
It's one thing to see strangers on social media having the time of their lives with their significant other-- but that goes away by closing an app. How do you ignore your best friend that is getting invited to all of her boyfriend's family parties? You don't. Instead, you put a smile on your face and tell her to have fun despite knowing how you'll spend your holiday parties.
However, it is not the end of the world. The holidays are worth so much more than a picture on Instagram captioned with multi-colored hearts. It's about spending time with the people you love and who truly appreciate you for you. So let your friend post her mushy pictures on Facebook and throw them a few "likes". Being jealous about your lack of relationship, or being sad about the boy who didn't text you back isn't worth your time.
Remember that you are young and aren't supposed to have life figured out. There is plenty of time left to kiss more frogs and find your prince. For now, go cuddle your dog (or cat), binge watch a Netflix show (may I suggest "OITNB" or "Grey's Anatomy") and have fun doing things for you. Do some online shopping with all the money you won't be spending on someone else. Above all, I hope you never forget:
