It is that time of the year again: February. The second and shortest month of the year is filled with a multitude of attributes: Groundhog Day, President's Day, and, if you're living where the weather drops below freezing, blizzards. However, everyone still boils the month down to one day: the 14th. No matter how many things come with February, it will always be seen as the month of Valentine's Day.
Every year as February begins, the commercial craziness of Valentine's Day is everywhere. Emails and advertisements remind you to "buy a gift for your special someone!" Walk into any store and the first thing you will see is a display of chocolates, flowers, and teddy bears. Everything everywhere is fully decked out in red and pink. One trend, however, bothers me every year. I notice it every time I turn on the TV: comedy channels airing "Valentine's Day Sucks" marathons. These show sitcom episodes about breakups and tragedy for everyone bitter about a day focused on love. It is aimed toward single people: who wants to celebrate Valentine's Day when you have no "special someone" to call your own?
To me, the notion of Valentine's Day being only for couples is nonsense. There is no need to spend a holiday of all things bitter and grumpy just because you do not have a date. Sure Valentine's Day is geared toward couples but in reality its meant as a holiday to celebrate love. There are plenty of people we all love who we do not have romantic relationships with: our families, our friends, and others as well. So why not spend Valentine's Day celebrating them as well?
Valentine's Day has always been one of my absolute favorite holidays and I've never been in a romantic relationship. I look forward to it each year as the day I can don heart-shaped jewelry, dress in pink from head to toe, pass out cute valentine's to my best-friends, and eat my weight in chocolate. The best years are when it falls on a weekend and I can have my friends over to eat red-velvet cake and cry our eyes out watching "The Fault in Our Stars."
I'll admit, Valentine's Day is a lot different if you are in a couple. But for that matter, are not all holidays? Sure, if you're coupled off for V-day it means candlelit dinners, heartfelt love-notes and a dozen red roses. If you are in a couple on Halloween, however, it means you can wear a couples costume! Couples on New Year's get to kiss at midnight. If those holidays are not any less exciting for single-people, why does Valentine's day have to be?
So this Valentine's Day, here is my advice: celebrate love. Gather up your friends and go out to lunch together. Tell them how much they mean to you. Call your mom, share a laugh, and really think about it when you say "I love you" at the end of the call. If you're single, curl up on the couch (alone or with a friend) and celebrate. Eat chocolate. Wear red. Challenge those TV stations and watch the episode of "Friends" where Ross and Rachel get together, not the one where they break up.
If Valentine's Day were only meant for couples, then why do elementary school art-teachers consistently have their students make heart-shaped crafts for their parents? Why do so many parents give little Valentine's gifts to their children? Why do high schools host fundraisers in which anyone can buy a rose for their friends?
Valentine's Day is all about love, about everyone we love. Isn't that a wonderful thing to celebrate? So grab all the red and pink from your closets; Valentine's Day is coming. Blast all of America's classic love tunes and tell someone you love them. After all, that is what the holiday is all about.
