A Funny Valentine
Valentine’s Day is coming. Words that could make certain people have the desire to hide under the covers and not come out until it is over. A day that is supposed to be all about romantic relationships. A day that I used to loath. Why do couples need a day to rub the fact that they have someone in the face of single people? Well, I have changed my thinking but probably not in the way that you would think.
OK, here is the skinny, I am single and I have been so for quite awhile. If you want to believe that anything that I say about Valentine’s Day is because I am single and cynical that’s fine, but you’ll be missing out on a perspective that is different from yours. I think that it is important to listen to people who experience life different from your own, so please keep an open mind. I am not going to bash Valentine’s Day but am someone who sees it as a bit silly that romantic love gets such a huge day.
I will start out by admitting that there was a time that I hated Valentine’s Day because I was single but once I became more comfortable with who I am and realized that being single is actually pretty great I started to rethink Valentine’s Day. I am definitely a hopeless romantic at heart. I love hearing peoples love stories and Rom Coms are some of my favourite movies but I think that when couples put too much importance on Valentine’s Day it always seems to disappoint or someone’s feelings get hurt. As I have gotten older I have also come to the conclusion that individual days don’t matter so much. If you are in a relationship you should be trying to show your partner how much you love and care about them everyday. I also think that surprising someone with something on a regular day means more. It means that you were thinking about them and wanted to do something for them and that an arbitrary day on the calendar didn’t dictate you showing your feelings. Now that I have said all that I’m not saying that you shouldn’t do anything nice for your partner on Valentine’s Day but I am saying don’t only do nice things on that day.
Now here comes the cynical side. Guess what? All you people in romantic relationships are not special. The majority of people are involved in romantic relationships. I don’t think that you need a day to celebrate that. I think that we need a day to celebrate all the single people out there that are killing it. You know what is hard? Being single! Not because you are alone but because the world keeps telling you that you are wrong and that you are not a complete person because you don’t share a bed with someone else. You know what else is hard? Having to pay all the bills yourself and do all the household chores yourself. Sometimes I think that the only reason that I would want to get married is for financial reasons and to have someone else take out the garbage sometimes. I know plenty of single people who kick ass and I would like one day of the year where everyone tells them how awesome they are. It would be so cool.
I do think that we could keep Valentine’s Day but we could change it. Instead of having the focus on romantic love we could change it to encompass all love. There is so much love in this world and I think that we should celebrate all of it. Wouldn’t it be great to take the day and tell everyone that you love them. I don’t understand why society places such an importance on romantic love when all love is amazing. You should always tell people that you love them not just when you are romantically involved. A day to celebrate love whether you are in a romantic relationship or not sounds pretty good to me.
I feel pretty lucky as a single person because I have a family that never leaves me out and always let’s me know that they love me. One of favourite times was last year when I got a Valentine in the mail from a cousin-in-law. I had been feeling pretty down this time last year, not because I was single but because I always feel a bit depressed in the winter months. It was such a surprise to find that I had actual mail instead of just junk that it instantly improved my mood. When I opened the Valentine I felt so loved. Sending something in the mail was such a small thing but it meant so much to me. Small things matter.
That is my say about Valentine’s Day. In the end I just hope that everyone feels loved in some way on that day. Please don’t put too much pressure on the day and please don’t feel sad if you don’t have a special someone. And to all the single people out there, you are killing it and you are awesome.