Maybe it’s time to re-evaluate the meaning of Valentine’s Day...
Maybe it’s time to re-evaluate the meaning of Valentine’s Day...
It’s 2017 and women still have old school ideas over how a prince charming will come, solve all their problems. However, on one specific day of the year, our hormones go into overdrive and suddenly life doesn’t make sense unless there is a man to hold our hand.
Some of my single friends go into a depressive zone before the V-Day and they start hoping that by some miracle, they’ll find a date or a boyfriend before this day just so that they don’t feel lonely. Obviously that rarely ever happens and they end up spending their nights alone, binging on ice cream or worse, rekindling with their exes.
Don’t take me for a bitter critic: I am hopelessly in love with my husband and find the time to be cheesy and romantic when the need arises. But why do we have to force our ‘love’ on one particular day? As in, how about you celebrate the day when you have someone in your life who is worth celebrating? Why does it have to be a ‘thing’? Why can’t everyone just calm down and do something else if there is nothing else to do?
Thankfully, not all my single friends wilfully fret over Valentine’s Day and find the time and energy to try their hand at other things. All you girls out there who are feeling down in the dumps today, here are a few things that my friends usually do! You can also try these things to feel better this V-Day.
Yes, you heard me. Get up and go to work. Go to school. Go do your chores. Do whatever the heck you’re supposed to be doing today because today is no different. It’s high time women stopped attributing men this much importance. Life won’t stop or slow down if there is no one to go out on a date with, so just go on about your day and go to bed early if it’s a weekday.
No, I’m not suggesting another horrible cliche: the anti-Valentine’s Day party as shown in Hollywood movies where all the single girls get together, denouncing men and anything related to them, get drunk, do crazy things and then somehow learn the importance of true friendship. Nope. The opposite of love isn’t hate. It’s apathy. Don’t become a man-hater for one night just because you don’t have a Valentine. So, if you are feeling really down, then reach out to your friends, whether male or female, so that you remember that you aren’t really alone, even if you feel like you are. A fun evening out with your friends is probably the best form of therapy.
Valentine’s Day has a thought and meaning behind it, which has been unfortunately been forced upon us thanks to films, ads and songs. So, maybe it is time to change the meaning of the day. Start a new ritual for Valentine’s Day: Every year on February 14th, spend the day doing social or charitable work. Maybe sign up with a women’s shelter or an NGO that helps underprivileged children. Spend the day volunteering at a Cancer hospital and take presents for the patients there. You will bring so much joy to your heart as well as the hearts of those who are less fortunate than you. That will surely be the best way to spend Valentine’s Day. This way, whenever, the day approaches every year, you will be greeted with a feeling of elation and not dread because good deeds can be done whether a man is in your life or not.
I mean if you want to have company on Valentine’s Day, how about you ask someone out? Honestly, it’s no big deal nowadays. Women and men are both becoming very open minded about gender norms, so women no longer need to wait around for someone to be interested in them. If you somehow ask a lame 15th century-minded man out who thinks it is weird or ‘desperate’ for women to ask men out then kick him goodbye and move on to the next.
For some women, Valentine’s Day is about receiving or exchanging gifts more than anything else. So how about you start saving money for Valentine’s Day to spend extravagant sums of money on yourself for a change! Buy yourself an expensive perfume or get yourself a heavenly bouquet of pink lilies, or hey, get yourself red roses if those are your favourite. Wear your favourite red silk blouse and go get yourself a blow dry. Look good for yourself, buy things for yourself and eat your favourite ice cream. Revel in the thought that instead of pleasing some loser who might not even be around next year, you spent the day making your precious self feel happy and loved. And this is exactly what Valentine’s Day is all about. Love.
