Why it's OK to be single on Valentines day

When Valentines day rolled around, I felt pretty alone. I was living in the dorms of the University of Victoria for my first year, and I was dreading the 14th as I had for previous years as well. The reason I felt this way was because previously, I had never had much luck with asking out the person i had a crush on. My relationship's up until then had only lasted a couple months, and I felt that Valentines day was super important to get right. The only Valentines day that I had with a partner so far is when we went bowling, which was definitely fun, but it felt more like friends hanging out instead of a romantic outing with someone, so I had no way of knowing if I was doing anything right.

With this in mind, I had been hoping to ask out someone who I had been gaining feelings for, but they were in a relationship, so you can understand that I had been feeling a little upset when February rolled around. When i was walking around, I was thinking of why Valentines's day is so important. After all, it's just a normal day of the year. To me, Valentine's day was a day where people overhyped the feeling of love, and many people expected too much from people on a day that should be just like any other day. Therefore Valentine's day was beginning to become a day that I despised on principle, instead of merely feeling indifferent to.

Thankfully, I realized that I was not really alone at all. I was thankful enough to have friends who I made in the dorms, and together a couple of us decided to have a good time together. We made plans to go and see a movie, and then dinner at BIN4, where we would get burgers for half off, since we would be going at the happy hour. The movie we saw was Alita Battle Angel- which was very entertaining, but the best part was being able to silently pick on the movie with my friend. Afterwards we were able to walk around and have great conversations. It may not seem like a lot, but I can say from experience, don't put so much pressure on Valentine's day. If you are in a relationship, yes it is important to do something nice for your partner, even if it is a small thing, but you do not have to act as if Valentine's day is the most important day of all time.

People who are single can enjoy the day too without feeling as if they are miserable, or supposed to be alone. The point of this is to say that everybody is worth something, and that February 14th isn't as important as people think. Hopefully everybody can realize that they are loved and important as well. Everybody stay safe, and have a great Valentine's day, whether you be in a happy relationship, or just having fun with family or friends!