Redefining Valentine's Day

It should be a day that you dedicate to others, to the ones you love, and they, in return, will make their day about you. Sometimes it requires taking a step back and making this day about others so that we can benefit from their happiness. Valentine’s Day should be exactly what you want it to be.

By Maria Lantigua

Published February 14, 2010

When did Valentine’s Day turn into such a sad and complicated day for so many people? Indeed, it seems to be a depressing day for those who don’t have a significant other. This holiday has been heavily commercialized as a day for couples only. I, however, grew up believing that Valentine’s Day is “el día del amor y la amistad”—the day of love and friendship. Having this perspective, I believe, is the best way to think of this holiday because you will always have a reason to celebrate this.

Even though many people say that every day should be the day of love and friendship, we have to admit that our routines sometimes do not allow us to appreciate the friends and partners we have. Therefore, it is nice to have a day that you can dedicate to your friends and significant others. Valentine’s Day should be a day in which you celebrate friendship and all types of love. It should be a day that you dedicate to others, to the ones you love, and they, in return, will make their day about you. Sometimes it requires taking a step back and making this day about others so that we can benefit from their happiness. Valentine’s Day should be exactly what you want it to be.

Remember the Valentine’s Days in middle school? It used to be simple. Everyone exchanged chocolates and teddy bears. We weren’t in romantic relationships, and yet we used to have a good time. Those years are gone, but why does Valentine’s Day have to be so miserable for some people? Traditions change. The way you celebrate Halloween now might not be the same way you will celebrate it 10 years from now—unless it is necessary to bring sexy back. But when things change, there is a need to alter our perspectives on certain things. If your relationship status changes, redefining what Valentine’s Day means is the best way to enjoy the holiday as you did during middle school.

You can continue disliking Valentine’s Day because it reminds you that you are single or because of the silly diamonds and Hallmark commercials, or you can adjust what Valentine’s Day means to you. It is not worth it to spend an entire day upset over something that is under your control. Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be a bitter reminder that you are single. It should be a day in which you think of the people who you love and who love you back. The key to not being sad during Valentine’s Day and its aftermath is redefining it as what you think it should be.

Valentine’s Day wasn’t created to make people who are single miserable. It should be thought of as a reminder to be thankful for the good people whom you love and who love you back. Like anything else in this world, Valentine’s Day is exactly what you want to make of it. It doesn’t have to be what the media has commercialized it to be—it can mean anything or nothing at all. But if you love yourself, if you love your friends, if you love your pet, if you love life, then next year you should absolutely celebrate Valentine’s Day—your way.

The author is a Columbia College sophomore.