The idea of being single on Valentines Day is not ideal, we get it. As February 14th approaches some people may be feeling all sorts of lovey dovey joy. They are planning the perfect romantic night with their other half and they’ve been stocking up on over-priced cards and presents for weeks. They’ve made dinner reservations and picked the perfect outfit and they would love to tell you how much they love their boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife. They are spending big bucks (over 18 billion dollars, reports CNN, to be exact) to prove their love. They are the annoying people who absolutely adore love and who love Valentines Day. Ugh.
As for everyone else–aka, you and your single friends–well, Valentines Day can be tough. It’s not fair and it shouldn’t be this way, but a day that is meant to be a happy celebration of love and companionship can actually have the opposite effect. It can make anyone who is unattached feel lonely. But guess what? Screw the roses and chocolates and cheesy cards. This is officially the first Valentines Day that you will give zero f**ks.
It’s time to stop hating on Valentines Day (ok fine you can hate a little) and start appreciating all the amazing things about being single, today and every day.
Read Related: 6 Reasons Why It’s Great to Be Single on Valentine’s Day
First of all, if you’re having a single Valentines Day, you don’t have to give or receive any of those cheesy cards with glitter and hearts and overused words about love. You also don’t need to stress over buying someone a gift that they will most likely never use. You don’t need to suffer through a boring dinner, or worse, suffer the disappointment of a significant other who failed to make any Valentines Day plans at all. We’ve all been there, and it sucks. You don’t need to blow your entire weekly paycheck on a half-hearted gift for someone else; instead you can treat yourself to something special–we’re thinking a mani/pedi, a nice bottle of wine or that shirt you’ve been eyeing for weeks.
There is no pressure if you’re single on Valentines Day. You don’t have to stress that you picked the wrong restaurant or the wrong gift, and you don’t have to worry that your man didn’t put in the effort you had hoped or expected. Speaking of expectations, a recent report found that 6 million people expect or are planning a marriage proposal on Valentine’s Day. Yes, it’s a bit of a cliché, and it’s also a lot of pressure on a couple; pressure you get to gracefully avoid if you’re flying solo.
Another perk of being single on Valentines Day is that you can host a party with your fellow single friends and spend the night gawking over your favorite celeb crushes (hey Ryan Gosling, how you doin?) and eating WHATEVER YOU WANT. Don’t worry if you get pizza on your shirt or you eat your ice cream too fast or you drink your body weight in wine. You get a free pass on Valentines Day. You go out and act ridiculous and belt out your favorite 80s pop hits at a karaoke bar or you can call it a night at 9pm and catch up on some much-needed sleep. No one will judge you because you are the only one who calls the shots when it comes to your social life.
These days people aren’t just tolerating being single, they are celebrating it. There’s even a holiday to honor those who will spend Valentines Day solo. Singles Awareness Day (yes it’s a real thing) is February 15th, and it’s a fun reminder of the many reasons that being single is actually pretty awesome.
Lastly, if you are single on Valentines Day and you don’t want to be, you’ll have a lot of opportunities to hook up with someone new. Valentines Day is becoming a popular night for first dates and singles events. Supposedly, as Woman’s Day reports, there are 119 single men—never married, widowed or divorced—in their 20s for every 100 single women of the same age. Which means you have a pretty good shot at meeting one of those guys if you’re in the right place at the right time. And on Valentines Day there are a lot of “right” places. Just check out local calendars and nightlife listings for singles events, meet-and-greets and singles-only parties. Bottom line: single Valentines Day is the new awesome.
