Valentine’s Day Doesn’t Heal Hearts, It Breaks Them
By Tanner Gonder
A good friend of mine has broken off every relationship he’s ever been in during the Valentine’s Day season. And it’s not just him, many of you have spent this holiday eating a bowl of ice cream after a rough break up too. Valentine’s Day is supposed to be the day of “love.” It’s supposed to be a holiday to celebrate with your loved one. Yet, it’s turned into a stress filled day with high expectations from everyone; Girls want to feel extra special by making extravagant plans, men want that Valentine’s kiss so they go along with the plans, and lonely people want a friend to go out of their way for them.
Recently, Valentine’s Day has become more of a game; guess what your loved one’s outlandish expectations are and try to fulfill them. Let me tell you from experience, you won’t ever make the cut playing that game. Valentine’s Day is “supposed” to be a day to remember, so relationships get put under a ton of stress to make it exactly that. If Valentine’s Day was truly a day of showing love, you wouldn’t have the expectation that your significant other should make all these extravagant (and expensive) plans. This perception of Valentine’s Day can lead to anxiety and maybe even depression, potentially ruining your relationship.
If Valentine’s Day has the perception that everyone should be in love and in a relationship, what happens to our lonely friends who are on the continual search for love? Another friend of mine used to send his crush chocolates and a secret love note almost every year for quite some time. And every year, he would watch her completely ignore him and kiss one of his friends on Valentine’s Day. What is Valentine’s to him now? It’s a day of hurt, loneliness, and depression. Valentine’s Day used to be a day to love others, especially those who didn’t have someone to love them back. Even though Valentine’s Day has become a show of the most extravagant plans or the biggest romantic getaway, let’s not forget about all those who actually need our love on Feb. 14.
If Valentine’s Day is so hurtful, why do we celebrate it? Why have we swayed away from its true meaning? The answer is capitalism. According to Statista, 25 billion dollars in Valentine’s Day sales has already been generated this year (with more still to come). Meaning, it’s become all about the money. That’s the real reason why Valentine’s Day is highly advertised. We become so focused on materialistic things that we lose sight of its true meaning; to love all of those around us, not just our significant other. Forget about all the gifts and fancy plans and focus on those we should love.
Curious about what others perceived of Valentine’s Day, I used a poll on social media to ask people if they liked the February holiday and asked for their explanations. The majority of people said “yes” because Valentine’s Day is an opportunity for them to love those around them. However, why do we need a special holiday to show others love or do something special for them? If you truly love someone, you would show them that love every single day. If we loved our loved ones every single day and continually made them feel special, we wouldn’t need Valentine’s Day. We wouldn’t have crazy breakup stories or rejection stories every year. Our relationships would be happier, healthier, and everyone would always feel loved. Love the people around you, no matter what day it is.
Like the stories mentioned above, we want to hear your horrible Valentine’s experiences. Click here to fill out a Google Form to potentially be featured in a “post-Valentine’s Day” article.
