Well, friends, the day of love is coming up and as usual, I'm hearing a lot of comments along the lines of "ew", "what a stupid holiday", "forever alone", and "great, now everything's going to be pink and red for the next month".
I get it, Valentine's Day when you're not in a relationship can often be annoying and cause lots of bitterness towards those ridiculous, giddy girls who post pictures with their huge stuffed bears and flowers and chocolates. Throw in a hundred more of these posts and it's enough to make anyone sick.
HOWEVER.
Let me be the voice on the other side of the issue that says Valentine's Day is not, I repeat IS NOT, an overrated holiday.
Now I know many people are going to read this and say, "But Deborah, Valentine's Day is just a day to fulfill romantic cliches and eat ridiculous amounts of chocolate" or "Valentine's Day is just a reminder of something that should be celebrated everyday, except much more annoying".
And I hear ya, believe me.
HOWEVER.
Valentine's Day is so much more than that. Valentine's Day is a symbol, not of mushy gushy romance and teddy bears, but of taking the time to let someone in your life know how much you love and appreciate them. Valentine's Day is an opportunity for everyone (regardless of if you're in a relationship or not) to show someone else that they are valued and cared for.
And this doesn't necessarily mean buying them chocolates and flowers. (Unless that's their thing. Then, by all means, buy the roses.) Love can be shown in so many different ways, and the point of Valentine's Day is just that- to show love in whatever way will be best received.
It shouldn't be a celebration of the gender norm that a woman kicks up her feet while a man goes to ridiculous lengths to prove his love. It shouldn't be a day for all the couples in the world to take cute pictures and sneer at everybody else who doesn't have what they do. And yes, sometimes it is these things, but please don't allow this to give the whole holiday a bad rap.
While, yes, love should be celebrated every day, V-Day is a reminder to all of us to do so. It's an opportunity to show your best friend how thankful you are for them. It's a chance to let your mom know you love her and you appreciate everything she does. Valentine's Day, I would argue, is a celebration of love between anyone- couple or not.
So don't bash everyone out there celebrating on Valentine's Day. Relationships take hard work and require lots of effort on both sides. So let the husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends, mothers and children, and best friends have their moment. And maybe even participate by brightening someone's day yourself.
