Valentine's Day is overrated

Valentine’s Day is overrated. It is a day designed to make couples feel proud, and brag guilt-free about how amazing their partner is. It is a day designed to make single people feel depressed that they are spending the ‘day of love’ alone. It is a day to provide unhappy couples with more reasons to argue. When put in those terms, it doesn’t sound particularly great.

Now, saying that, Valentine’s Day is not inherently a bad thing. Celebrating love is always good, and should be encouraged. People should be allowed to express their emotions towards their partner. But having a day dedicated to it, like it’s the only day that having love matters, is sending the wrong message. This idea values people based only if they are coupled up at one specific time in the entire year.

People who are perfectly happy with their lack of a relationship can feel like they’ve failed. Despite being no more alone than other day, they are constantly bombarded by messages telling them they needed to find someone, with articles about how to find a boyfriend/girlfriend for Valentine’s Day common in the early months of the year. Not being in a relationship on this one day does not make you more or less successful. In fact, forcing a relationship for the sole purpose of having a date on Valentine’s Day, could make the day all the more depressing.

Disappointment is a common emotion associated with Valentine’s Day. There’s an expectation that the day will be amazingly romantic, and maybe even perfect. The reality is that even for couples are happy together, the day is often doesn’t end up meeting these standards. Placing this massive romantic burden onto this one day will inevitably lead to dissatisfaction. Confining love to one day just isn’t right. It limits the most limitless quality of all.

Love and affection should always be expressed on any day of the year. Going on dates and presents are potentially even more impactful when they happen out of the blue. Thinking of someone and being generous, when you don’t have to, feels much more romantic and sincere, than a partially mandated night out. Love should be spread out to all days, expressed whenever and wherever the moment may strike.

Yes, it may feel great to have a good night out with your significant other on Valentine’s Day. But, picture this. Your significant other spontaneously decides to show you how much they love you, and have a date night on a random Tuesday. All because they felt like it, not because they felt pressured to. Surely that’s much more romantic.

So, if on the 14th, you’re coupled up or single, it really doesn’t matter either way. There are many other kinds of love that can be celebrated: having a boozy night with friends, or taking the time to spoil yourself. Relationships can always take a back seat, even on the day of love. There’s another 364 days in the year for all that.