V-Day who? It’s almost Galentine’s Day!
Days are getting longer, weather is getting warmer (well okay, sometimes), and the last Christmas lights are making room for red, pink, and hearts. Now you either think: ‘Yes, I cannot wait!’ or maybe ‘Let it be Thursday already..’ Valentine's Day is right around the corner. Some love it, some hate it. But I’m here to tell you that actually, it’s a day for everyone.
Valentine’s Day is said to be a celebration derived from ancient stories of the Roman God Cupid or Christian martyrs named ‘Valentine’. Nowadays though, it is mainly the day of couples, gift giving, and gestures of expressing love. Sweet, but also highly commercial - and slightly unbalanced. Singles are starting to feel pressured to find a Valentine, while couples feel obligated to find a gift for their partner - even though we’re all still broke after the holidays. Our commercial society is smartly taking advantage of another day of celebration to hang on us. But what if you’re not into that at all? And still want to use it to your advantage?
If you open TikTok or Instagram now, Valentine's Day is slowly but surely moving to make place for Galentine’s Day. For-you-pages and reels are filled up with ‘Host my first Galentine’s day with me’ or ‘Come with me on my Galentine’s day trip’. At first, I was also like: “Huh? They must have got the first letter wrong…” Nothing could be less true. Galentine’s Day is a new tradition, derived from the infamous V-Day, which is dedicated to showering you besties with love. Imagined into existence by Parks and Recreation, Galentine’s Day is initiated to ignore romantic love, and celebrate friendship love with gal pals instead. Or as Parks and Recreations’ Leslie herself said: ladies celebrating ladies. From social media influencers to Michelle Obama, many people all over the world are now choosing G over V - and not just girls. And whilst it is put on February 13th, it can take place any time between February 1st and Valentines Day. And the best part is: there’s no rules or obligations. Only fun with friends. And whether that friend is stuck in an endless talking stage, in an almost-married kind of relationship, or happily single: Galentine’s day is there for everyone.
So now that most of your exams are also (probably, hopefully) over for now, why not gather your bestie(s) and celebrate the hell out of each other. Put on some happy tunes and cook a nice meal together. Organize a fun after-dinner activity to do together like mug-painting, a drinking game, or going out till the early morning. It’s all up to you and your gals, guys, buddies…
Moral of the story: V-Day has commercialized to be the day of couples. And if you ask me, unfairly so. Let’s not make this (relatively random) day of the year a day of ‘winners’ and ‘losers’. Let’s make it a day to extra-celebrate love. In all forms.