Every time Valentine’s Day rolled around throughout middle school and early high school, I remember telling my friends that the holiday was just an excuse for companies to make a profit on naive couples with flowers, cards, stuffed bears, and chocolate. Now, 12-year-old me wasn’t entirely wrong: according to the National Retail Federation (NRF), 52% of American adults celebrated the holiday last year and were expected to spend a total of $21.8 billion on their Valentine’s Day celebration.

You don’t have to be a business major to see that there is a market for a holiday that is the fifth largest spending event in the United States.

But the question is, was my middle school self right? Is Valentine’s Day completely built on a capitalist mindset rather than one built on love? Now, in college and in a relationship of almost three years, my boyfriend and I would probably classify as a naive couple that companies want to get money from. But, call me a hopeless romantic, I believe that Valentine’s Day is more than money and capitalistic greed, but is rather full of love and admiration.

As someone who loves to give gifts, Valentine’s might be one of my favorite holidays because it gives me the opportunity to give gifts to the people I love, especially my boyfriend. It’s pretty much a gift-giving love type’s dream to have so many gift options to pick from for the people they care about.

However, it’s not all about the money. Instead of going on an extravagant trip or eating a fancy dinner to celebrate, you could go for a homemade picnic and night in complete with a movie marathon. Love isn’t about grand gestures, extravagant trips, and fancy dinners; it’s about spending quality time with the person that you care about — I think that’s what Valentine’s Day is really about.

Valentine’s Day is also more than romantic love! You can celebrate friendship through traditions like Galentine’s Day — pop open a bottle of wine with your friends and watch some of your favorite rom-coms together.

Overall, I think Valentine’s Day is a great holiday to celebrate and show our appreciation for the people in our lives that we love and admire. Although ideally, we would be showing those people that every day, Valentine’s Day is the perfect chance to spend more time with the people you love by starting and continuing great traditions with them.

Whether that’s going out to dinner at your favorite restaurant, spending time with your best friends and watching "10 Things I Hate About You" for the tenth time, or treating yourself to your favorite Valentine’s Day candy when they go on sale — the holiday should be based on love rather than greed.

This Valentine’s Day, think about why you’re celebrating it and who you’re spending it with rather than getting stuck in the unrealistic, material mindset that can sometimes be forced on you.