Some people jump around with anticipation for the weeks leading up to it; others run, desperately, trying anything to ward off it’s arrival. Whether you want to admit it or not, Valentine’s Day always finds a way to consume your thoughts as it rolls around yet again.

Unfortunately, a day that’s entire purpose is to celebrate love has most people doing the later; more and more people are running away from the holiday rather than embracing it, regardless of relationship status. Since when did Valentine’s Day become so scary, so stressful?

February 14 is, for the most part, a date completely fabricated by pop culture. The day is something we can call a “Hallmark Holiday”; it has been completely twisted and commercialized into something it is not and something it was never meant to be. In a recent Saturday Night Live monologue, comedian Chris Rock took a stab at explaining the paradox that is American culture when it comes to holidays. He points out that we turned history’s least materialistic man into a reason to buy expensive items and eat excessive amounts of food for an entire “Jesus Birthday Season”.  

The same can be said for what we have done to Valentine’s Day. February rolls around, and suddenly we throw the classic “Can’t Buy Me Love” out the window all to send ourselves into a frenzy. Therefore, Valentine’s Day is perfectly associated with the color red, because the day can be completely stress inducing and downright scary. There is the unforgiving pressure to be perfect, to not screw anything up. February 14 is a game, and there is no other option but to win.

This pressure works both ways. For the happily coupled, there is the push to formulate the perfect showing of your love. You feel almost required to go out and spend everything you can on fancy dinners, thoughtful presents, and flowers that your date is probably allergic to and will just toss in to the garbage can anyways. It is all about the show, never mind the tell.

For the happily (or not-so-happily) single, there is the need to prove that you are just fine on your own. You have to show that you absolutely do not care about not having someone to celebrate Valentine’s Day with, which in reality usually requires a ton of effort to pull off regardless of if you mean it or not.

This Valentine’s Day, be crazy in love-- not in the sense of running around and trying to make everything perfect, not in the sense of staring at the clock waiting for the sense of relief that comes with February 15, but in the sense of actually, full-on being in love. Love your girlfriend, your boyfriend, your best friend, your mom, your cat, or the fact that you don’t ever have to share the covers with anyone else. Whatever does the job for you, appreciate it for all it is worth. Forget about the pressure to be perfectly together or perfectly single, and for once on Valentine’s Day, just be.