Recently Valentine’s Day has come under fire because people feel that they have to be in a romantic relationship in order to celebrate the holiday.

People also don’t like buying into the holiday, seeing it as a scam set up by capitalist economies to get people to buy overpriced Valentine’s Day-related items such as chocolate and flowers.

Their feelings are not unfounded. USA Today reports that people are spending over $140 on Valentine’s Day this year.

Valentine’s Day is so much more than celebrating the love between two members of a romantic relationship.

I believe that many of us have lost sight of that, preferring, for whatever reason, to drown in our respective sorrows while crying over a pint of Ben and Jerry’s.

Valentine’s Day was one of my favorite holidays as a kid.

In school you had the opportunity to buy or make a small gift for your classmates.

I always liked crafting a handmade Valentine, making sure that I made my closest friends’ Valentine’s Day cards fancier than people I wasn’t as close to.

At that point in my life, I was not romantically involved with anyone. I still thought boys in my first grade class had cooties.

Yet, we still celebrated the holiday, arguably, with more fervor than I celebrate it now.

So why is it now that I am in my 20s that I hear my peers hating on a holiday we loved so much as children?

There are so many forms of love, and any or all of them should be celebrated on Valentine’s Day.

For example, if you are single, you can celebrate your love with your friends, your parents.

Even your pets could be a reason to be happy and celebrate Valentine’s Day.

If you are in a relationship, then you have the best of all worlds.

You can celebrate Valentine’s Day and express your love to anyone in your life.

I am in a long-distance relationship so I will be spending my Valentine’s Day without my loved one.

But rather than being upset about it and closing myself off from the world, I am going to make the best of the situation and spend it surrounded by friends that I care about and having a nice
FaceTime call in the evening with my boyfriend.

Celebrating does not necessarily have to require money being spent either.

Sometimes all someone needs to make their day just a little bit better is a hug, phone call or a brief statement as to why they matter.

These free displays of affection are perfect for college students on a broke college student budget.

Being told that you matter to another person has a great effect on mental health.

That in turn makes one have a more positive outlook, makes one happier and can improve overall health.

It is my hope that we as a society can come to the realization that Valentine’s Day is a great holiday.

It is an opportunity to show how loving we all are toward one another, and in our present social climate the more love that gets shared, the better.

So, put your Chubby Hubby back in the freezer and give your best friend, roommate or dog a hug and feel the love this Valentine’s Day.