VALENTINES SPECIAL By Samar Shah
How To Celebrate Valentine’s Day: Single’s Edition
Alright, it’s time. The day where my date is a bucket of chocolate ice cream. My plan for this particular date is sitting on the couch all day, watching rom-coms, and even though she may be a little bit cold, she is still pretty sweet (see what I did there?).
Valentine’s Day: A Brief History
In our current day and age, Valentine’s Day is a celebration of love, chocolates, handwritten cards, and dates, or it could also just be a reminder (as if November 11th wasn’t enough). However, Valentine’s Day hasn’t always been lovey dovey; it used to be the pagan holiday Lupercalia. Occurring for centuries in the middle of February, the holiday celebrated fertility. The traditions were rather strange. It involved men sacrificing a goat and a dog. They would then cut out pieces of their hide, dip it in the blood, then run around and whip women with the hide (I was not kidding when I said it was strange). It was believed to make the women more fertile.
However, Lupercalia was then Christianized to be a day for feasts to celebrate the martyred Saint Valentine or Saint Valentines. It is unknown as to which Saint Valentine is being honored, but there were 2 who were executed on a February 14th in different years during the rule of Roman Emperor Claudius in the 3rd century.
Painting of Geoffrey Chaucer from the Poetry Foundation.
Then in the 14th century, Valentine’s Day was given the meaning that we know of today. An English poet, known as Geoffrey Chaucer, was the first to record Valentine’s Day as a romantic celebration. In his 1375 poem, Parliament of Foules, he wrote: “For this was sent on Seynt Valentyne’s day / Whan every foul cometh ther to chese his make.” Basically, this Shakespeare sounding line refers to the mating patterns of birds. Funny thing is, it was believed that bird mating season in England and France kicks off on February 14th. All the couples out there have bird mating season to thank for romantic Valentine’s Day.
Single’s Day
Ok, while yes, Valentine’s Day is about expressing love to your partner. What about those who haven’t found anyone, don’t currently have anyone or don’t need anyone?
First of all, think of it as Single’s Day. Who cares what you call it. The only thing that matters is what February 14th means to you.
Photography by Ting Tse Wang
There are a variety of ways to celebrate this day that don’t involve questionable traditions. I have seen way too many sadistic suggestions on social media, for example a man booked every other seat in a movie showing just to split up couples. A few of my friends may not want to hear it, but there are much better and less expensive ways to feel better about yourself on this day. Here is a small list of ideas:
Do not check stories or posts on Instagram, Snapchat, or TikTok – Comparison is the thief of joy.
Take your friend out – It doesn’t necessarily have to be romantic. Buy some yellow roses for your pal.
Avoid romcoms – Just trust me on this.
Engage in self-care – Love yourself too. This can be done in a variety of ways, just have fun or relax. Whatever works for you.
Heck, just forget about it – “The happiest animal on this planet is a goldfish” - Ted Lasso
Writing this article was an eye opener for me. Maybe this year I won’t go on a date with an ice cream bucket, maybe I won’t watch any romcoms, maybe I might change it up altogether. Sure, it’s Valentine’s Day, but I can turn it into Taco Wednesday for this week, just to spice up the day a little bit.
