Quell the rage, make Valentine’s Day your own
February 10, 2026 3:38 PM
As I walk through local shops and see whole aisles and displays dedicated to red cards and chocolates, I realize that regardless of individual love or hate, we all tend to have pretty strict conceptions of old Valentine’s Day.
There are really two camps here: those planning to have a good time with a loved one, and those throwing all the bitterness they can muster at a commercial/obligation/depression inducing holiday. This is hardly news.
What is interesting to think about though is why a culture so open to varied custom and celebration gets so hung up on the rights and wrongs of February 14th.
Everyone seems to exhibit some degree of zero sum thinking. If our partners don’t exhibit some grand gesture they must suck.
Or if we’re single, then we must by rights be sad. If we’re smart, then we’ll realize that this is commercial exploitation.
All of these may be astute observations in their own right, but I just don’t buy the negativity. Isn’t this supposed to be a cheer up day? If we were talking about Christmas or New Year’s Eve, we’d be content to make our own traditions using personal or familial satisfaction as a compass.
But poor St. Valentine falls victim to a strictly enforced hierarchy: either romantic idealism, or cynicism as a religion.
Rather than make it our own we have to either manufacture a love response or mount an open rebellion. Sounds exhausting to me.
All anyone really wants in early February is to banish the cold, weary, everything sucks because it’s winter feeling from the collective consciousness.
And so, if you care to chase a romance to which all previous insignificant moments lead and from which they flow, by all means go for it.
If you want to hone your witty bitterness until you’re doing standup on late night, have at ‘er. But for the rest of us mortals, I put forth February 14th as Banish your Winter Depression Day.
That means doing something that makes you happy, guilt free (whether romantic or not). My suggestions include (but are not limited to): eat something fabulously unhealthy, kiss someone cute, make a homemade valentine, watch your favourite movie, go for a long run, or do anything otherwise stupid and gratifying despite the fact that your roommates are watching (or maybe even because of it).
We face too much hardship and sighing in our everyday lives to find excuses to make holidays a disappointment.
Anyone who hates Valentine’s Day should really just be celebrating it in a better way.
In parting, I’ll not wish you a happy Valentine’s Day. But I’ll wish you luck in clearing the cobwebs off of that box in the back of your mind entitled ‘hearty laughter.’
Because honestly, pleasing yourself should come out on top no matter what your interpretation of North American love day entails.
