Valentine’s Day. The day of love. The one day of the year when it is socially acceptable for couples to exist in public. Sorry, I think I just threw up in my mouth a little. The hype around Valentine’s Day and romance is so overrated. Swapping saliva during peak cold and flu season sounds like a genuine nightmare, and think of how claustrophobic all those crowds in the city will be.
Being single on this day is genuinely so much easier, there’s so much stress off your back. There are a lot of benefits to being single, but, if you really want to do something on this day just to avoid being depressed about it all, here are a few things you can do.
Benefits of being single on Valentine’s Day.
So you’re the single friend of the group. Good for you! Look at all the things you get to avoid on this holiday! You don’t have to figure out dinner reservations for date night or sit through rush hour traffic just to meet those reservations because the restaurant is all the way in Los Angeles. There’s no need to worry about buying the perfect gift for your partner that just has to top last year’s gift.
You don’t have to agonize in front of the mirror for hours trying to pick the most flattering outfit that simultaneously compliments your partner’s. Being single means you can do so many things that would’ve taken so much longer with a partner. You don’t have to fight over what cuisines to eat, and you can rewatch that Studio Ghibli movie for the 50th time that month. You get to indulge in hobbies and exist in your rattiest, comfiest outfit, not worrying about the need to impress a significant other.
Instead of ensuring the itinerary for Valentine’s Day is perfect and obsessing over the smallest details, you now have more time to study as we hit the peak of midterm season. All that work you’ve been neglecting because seasonal depression has been hitting so much harder this year, well, now you can throw yourself into it and get ahead of your peers with partners.
Things to do on Valentine’s Day instead.
- If you still want to play into the theme of the day, gather your other single friends and host a little party to swap valentines like back in elementary school. Whether those valentines are those same small cards you can find in stores, handmade gifts tailored to each person or trying out new drinks or dessert recipes you found on TikTok, it is completely up to you!
- Binge watch those movies you’ve been meaning to see for a while. Pretend you’re a film critic that will need to report their findings to the group chat. Create a March Madness style “Battle of the Movies” to figure out which is the film to reign over all other films. If you’re feeling particularly productive, create an Oscars-style award show.
- Craft! If you haven’t done it in a while, working with your hands becomes very satisfying and meditative, especially if that craft can serve as decoration within your dorm or apartment after. One craft I highly recommend is creating pipe cleaner flowers. I’ve made pipe cleaner sunflowers, lilies and peonies and they liven up my barren apartment. There are endless tutorials on YouTube, TikTok or Instagram with every flower imaginable, as well as green plants to break up the petals.
Too often, especially on this holiday, the rhetoric gets pushed that you should be unsatisfied without a romantic partner. This is not a good message to believe and internalize, especially during a day that has become more about a consumerist culture pushed by capitalism than actual romance and enjoying time with your partner.
Companies have monopolized the holiday, jacking up prices all over the place in order to monetize all the couples who want to go out for the day. The world is so incredibly loud and has grown increasingly more expensive, so it becomes immensely important that we sit in the quiet and learn to reconnect with ourselves as individuals.
Knowing your likes, your dislikes and your hobbies without the input of another person or social media ensures that you will not compromise or diminish the things that bring you joy for the sake of a friendship or a romantic partner. It ensures you know who you are as a human being who gets to take up space.
Being single is so much fun. There is a freedom to it, to remembering one’s individuality that we so often take for granted. And, if being single starts to feel too lonely, a romantic partner doesn’t need to be the one to fill that gap. My friendships, my platonic soulmates, have always been more fulfilling than any romantic relationship.
