So you don’t have a lover to spend Valentine’s Day with, so what?! We have Palentine’s Day so spend the day with your friends AKA your loved ones.
Palentine’s Day
Why be alone when you can grab your single friends and spend the day together? Society created Friends-Giving which is a sub-culture holiday made to spend Thanksgiving with your friends if you don’t have a family to be with. Why can’t we do the same with Valentine’s Day? We can call it Palentine’s Day! Spend Palentine’s Day going to the arcade with your friends at Yestercades in Westfield. Have some money left over? Hit the shops and spend a little on yourself you deserve it, it’s not easy living life sometimes. A little retail therapy goes a long way, it’s all about the dopamine release! Not a fan of the arcade? That’s cool, why not catch the new horror movie, Heart Eyes which takes place on Valentine’s Day? You could spend Palentine’s Day watching couples get all sliced up with your best friends. I can’t think of a better time. You got the munchies and need a bite to eat? Hit up Ciros Pizza for some delicious food and get an extra large pie to share with your friends.
Fun Solo Activities
Valentine’s Day is the nation’s holiday of love, you can spend it by having some quality time with your lover or you can take the day and make it about you. Not in a selfish controlling type of way but a self-care mental health kind of way. Go to Target buy a face mask and get some tasty snacks. While you’re at it go buy a comfy blanket with some matching cozy socks. At home, take a nice hot shower, wear that face mask, and make your skin glow. Throw on some pajamas and a big cozy hoodie and watch some romantic comedies like; “How To Lose a Guy In 10 Days”, “She’s All That“, “10 Things I Hate About You, There’s Something About Mary”, and “La La Land”. A feel-good movie can make any “bad day” into a not-so-terrible evening.
Coloring and drawing are other good ways to spend a day with yourself. Especially in writing, I feel no one talks about the release and how fun writing can be. Write a poem, write how you feel, and put those thoughts onto paper. Some of the greatest things were created from emotion.
Creating Good Vibes Through Music
It’s late and you’re driving home from work, You’re either meeting up at your friend’s house for Palentine’s Day or you’re going home for your mental health retreat. Either way, you got some time till your car’s going to pull into that driveway so let’s listen to some tunes. Music is a gateway into our soul and the words in it are spells and what we hear through our music manifests and influences our actions and thought processes. Let’s put ourselves on a high vibration by listening to songs like; “Blow Me (One Last Kiss)” by P!nk, “Island In The Sun” by Weezer, “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac, “Santeria” by Sublime, “Can’t Stop” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, “Lady (Hear Me Tonight)” by Modjo, or “Music Sounds Better With You” by Stardust. I just gave you a playlist full of good vibes waiting for you at the wheel.
You’ll see that even though these songs are from different genres they still convey the same emotion from us. That’s how powerful music is. Whenever you catch yourself feeling down just turn on some music and transport yourself from that spot. You’re never truly stuck, sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel gets a little blurry and you lose your way but just remember the fog always goes away.
Self-Love
Around this time of year, it’s easy to get all mixed up in your emotions and feel bad for yourself. Let’s try to remember who we are: We are strong and resilient individuals. There’s a preconception that as a teenager, you need to have a significant other, but just like that generational trauma, we need to break it. At the end of the day, all you have is yourself and when you go on to live your long life you’ll realize that you always will have yourself. Not having a man or woman doesn’t make you less interesting of a person.
I’ve been single for eighteen Valentine’s Days in a row I know what I am talking about when it comes to the importance of loving yourself. I look at life in a fun way like you’re in a video game and you are a character, an individual with your cool style and personality. You see things in a way other people can’t because your perception is your reality so go through life with a positive outlook, not all is doomed. That alone will make you a happier individual while simultaneously helping you love yourself. Being happy and having that release of dopamine will change your outlook on everything in life, even how you see yourself. It all starts with you.
