Valentine’s Day: Love is all You Need.

With the start of February, many people have their eyes set on the 14th and are eagerly waiting for the day to arrive: Valentine’s Day! While for the others it’s just another workday. Also known as St. Valentine’s Day falls on the 14th Feb every year where people share their love with their loved ones and some start on a new journey with the ones they have felt the spark with and express how they truly feel about the other and celebrate one of the purest forms of emotion: love.

Valentine’s Week lasts from the 7th Feb to 14th Feb, starting with Rose Day and ending with Valentine’s Day. However, the day has more to it than just being a day for the Lovers. It’s a day to express and show your emotion to anyone you Love: the limit isn’t just set to partners! A day that celebrates the bond between the people. People often fail to express their feelings for the ones they love and care and this day is a savior to them, although it’s not the only day where people should be sharing Love, it can also be shown 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 52 weeks a year!! It’s also a day for people to express their Love for their Parents, family members, and friends and let them know that they are special.

Here are few facts about this day that you may or may not know:

•       Let’s start with this one, earlier 14th February used to be a Roman Fertility Festival. Sounds gruesome!
•       The shape of a heart, that people are more familiar with, actually resembles the now-extinct plant Silphium which once existed in the African city-state Cyrene.
•       Wearing red makes you more attractive (it does). Everyone probably knows about this!
•       The tradition of gifting a box of chocolate or candy on Valentine’s Day was started in the 19th century by Richard Cadbury.
•       The first valentine’s day letter was written from a place that wouldn’t even strike the people’s mind: a prison! Written by Charles, Duke of Orleans wrote the letter to his second wife at the age of 21 while being imprisoned at the Battle of Agincourt.
•       Before being renamed as Cupid, the chubby baby with wings and a bow who has been associated with this day for since long was known to the ancient Greeks as Eros, the god of Love.

Hope that the above facts surely did increase your knowledge about this day!!

With the start of the week, social media can also be seen flooding with memes relating either to the couples or those who are single! People can be seen spending their time with the special one and some can be seen questioning their existence on this day and would be ready to sign a petition to stop this day from being celebrated! Hilarious right! 

The common misconception here about this day is that it’s not for singles! Valentine’s Day is for the singles in the house too! Yes! You read that right! Not even a single soul shall refrain from celebrating this day. Valentine’s Day is all about celebrating Love and self-love does fall under it. Go out and buy some roses for yourself, treat yourself with chocolates, get yourself that cute stuffed teddy that you wanted and promise yourself that you will never stop loving and caring for yourself!

But if you still feel that you are not made for this day then here are few tips on how you too can get through this day:

• First and foremost, on this particular day do not spend your time scrolling through your Instagram feeds because you probably know what feeds you will come across and you might again start questioning your existence!
•       Avoid watching the renowned romantic Bollywood movies throughout the day! Do something productive and interesting!
•       Last but not least, spend quality time with family and close ones and shower them with love and enjoy the weekend!!

People can celebrate this day the way they want to: whether they celebrate it with their special one or with their families and friends. It’s how you want to celebrate the emotion, there is no set of rules!

There is only one Happiness in Life: to love and to be loved.

 -Rakshanda Shrestha