Yes, it's a made up holiday. And yes, sometimes you can feel alienated by...well...pretty much everyone with hearts in their eyes if you don't have a significant other to celebrate with, but I think that's bollocks. Here's WHY.
Even though Valentine's Day is a holiday invented to sell candy, cards, etc...and EVEN if you're not in a committed relationship, I bet you still have someone in your life who you could show a little extra love to. I bet you have someone in your life who is always there for you, and who would benefit from hearing how much you appreciate them.
When I was single, my other singletons and I would bake red and pink cupcakes together and pig out on them and just enjoy each other's company.
VDay circa 2007. For the record, we're not sad because we're single. We're sad because our cupcakes are deformed!Even though I have a boyfriend now, I still send something to my mom, and buy or make little things for my friends, even if it's just a heart-shaped lollipop.
One can argue that you should show your loved ones EVERY DAY that you appreciate them, but sometimes it just doesn't happen. You drop your phone in the toilet, or gmail goes down, or you're hungover and not feeling cuddly that day. Lots of things can get in the way. And, sometimes you just forget to call your friends who you appreciate to no end but don't see every day, or give your dog a belly rub for being an unfailingly loving companion.
Valentine's day isn't an excuse to be sad and sit at home and eat ice cream by yourself. It's just another REASON to celebrate the ones you love--human or otherwise--and that's what I intend to do!
11 comments:
But are you a scrooge if you don't recognize it as a holiday at all? I don't go around saying how it's a waste of money and blah blah blah. We just don't do anything different than normal...which others would find offensively cute but I won't get into that.
I've actually never liked Valentine's day. Even in elementary school when you had to give and receive Valentines, my mom seriously had to make me fill them out. When I was in a relationship, I never wanted to do anything special. A card is fine, nothing more. (And only a card because it's proper etiquette)!
I love to bake cupcakes for vday and have my way with them ;) ha ha as in decorating them all festive like. Sorry for not commenting as of late. :( Sometimes its just best to avoid if on drugs...ha. No but hope your valentines weekend is full of love - and cupcakes!
I love this Leah! I feel the same way. I can easily say that my valentine's days without a bf greatly outweigh the ones with and I've always loved the holiday.
I also come from a family that celebrates everything so I'm sure that had some influence.
Plus I LOVE sending cards. :)
I love Valentine's Day, too! I know it's all about couples, but I wish we could go back to how it was when we were kids and just about handing out cards to our friends and getting sugar highs, lol.
And I know people say that we should love every day of the year, not just on Feb. 14th but I think it's important to have a day to just spend it LOVING. It's kind of like Thanksgiving; yes, we should be thankful for what we have every day but why can't we set aside one day to "honor" it?
Haha, and now I'm off my soapbox!
Oats: I guess if you aren't going to recognize it, so be it. I'm just saying, don't shun Vday because it's made up! Instead, embrace what it symbolizes and show the people you love how much you love them because sometimes we forget to do that.
Lacy: I'm a big believer of: "It's the thought that counts!" A lot of times, it can mean way more to someone to get a heartfelt card instead of a bunch of fancy gifts.
Stephdeezy: It's fun to write your name! Also, cupcakes make everyone happy. I'm with you. Why not share the love instead of sitting at home being sad??
Molly: I also come from a family who celebrated everything! I think it's why I love every holiday and feel they're so important to celebrate. (Even the made up ones!)
Stephany: Sometimes it's just not possible to give thanks or show appreciation 365 days a year. That's why I always use this one day to make sure I show extra appreciation to make up for the days when I'm crabby or forgetful. :)
Stephany - I like your analogy to Thanksgiving. It almost makes me feel guilty that I'm not celebrating. Almost. To me V-day is kind of like the Chinese New Year. It happens, it's no big deal to me but it is to others, so let them celebrate.
Love the attitude. It's so very easy to hate a holiday you're not a part of and goodness knows the blogs are aflame with either 'I LOVE Valentine's Day, look what we did!' or 'I hate this stupid day. Grumble grumble.' But I take your attitude, which is probably the most healthy for non-participants. Why step on a holiday that is, yes, undeniably driven by commercialism and consumerism? Because it promotes something that should not be undermined. Love should be expressed 24/7 for sure, but we can't always put in 110% so why not have a few days like this where it is positively suggested?
p.s. which one are you in the picture? If you're the right-hand-side girl, you look genuinely morose, haha!
Such a great message in here. I really try to take that stance too. I spend time with my other single friends and do fun stuff to celebrate us. And of course, spread some love to everyone I love in my life :)
Stephen: I AM the one on the left!! Haha, believe me, I was smiling much more after I ate those deformed, yet delicious cupcakes.
Bayjb: That's so great! No reason to sit at home on Valentine's day (single or not) when there are so many people out there to spread the love to. :)
I mean I'm the one on the right. Whoops!
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