Valentine’s Day = Single Awareness Day?
With Valentine’s day quickly approaching, I’ve been seeing and hearing a lot of things about how Valentine’s day is also known as the depressing Single Awareness Day (SAD). I’m not so sure that I agree with the notion that Valentine’s day is a reminder to single people that they have no significant other (it’s slightly and somewhat annoyingly ironic that the acronym creates the word sad).
Flashback to our elementary school days. Remember when Valentine’s day wasn’t necessarily about having a valentine in that romantic aspect? Recall those cute valentine’s day cards that came with candy coupled with cute puns based on the cartoons on the cards that you shared with everyone in your class. Don’t sit there and tell me you didn’t enjoy the candy and didn’t feel somewhat special. How about giving or receiving an extra-special treat to and from your close friends on that day as well? Sure, it’s not flowers and dinner on them, but it still meant something to you and gave that day meaning. What about those arts and crafts projects you had to do in art class for your parents or grandparents for Valentine’s day? There can be no way that you ended your day with depressed feelings of loneliness and rejection.
As we all grow up, Valentine’s day goes from expressing how much you love your friends and family to focusing all of your efforts on only one person, whom you only see in a romantic way, that day. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with exerting a lot of effort to show that special someone, that deserving significant other, how much you appreciate and love them, let’s not forget about the other people we love on Valentine’s day as well.
So to those people who see Valentine’s day as this depressing and SAD day of love, don’t trip just because you don’t have an “official” valentine. SAD is just an excuse for people to feel sorry for themselves for being “alone.” Well, look around. Are you really alone? Don’t you have family and friends to keep you company? Are you seriously going to let the absence of an “official” valentine lead to the conclusion that you’re alone and lonely? Sure, you can have your moment to feel slightly rejected and upset because you don’t have a valentine, but don’t let it take over and ruin your day. Don’t rename the damn day after your bitter feelings.
Think about all of the other people in your life that you love and how they love you back: family, friends, pets, etc. These people deserve to see how much you appreciate and love them too. So instead of exerting all your energy towards bitterness, sadness and depression because you’re “single,” how about channeling that energy towards the other significant, non-romantic people in your lives.
Intimacy and romance aren’t the only definition of love. Love is whatever contributes to your happiness and makes you feel complete.
Truth.
