Angie Walls
(photo by JeniFoto from Shutterstock)
Published in Too Shy to Stop Magazine, February 6, 2009

The holiday traditionally known for candy hearts, chocolate candy boxes, red roses, and heart-shaped jewelry is now an occasion that anyone can enjoy, regardless of whether or not they’ve found “the one.”

In the past, Valentine’s Day has been a source of emotional pressure in a number of ways: indulge in the expectations of gift giving for your partner, or feel doomed for not having found your special someone already.

For those who’ve already found their Valentine, this is just a traditional holiday that bears the innocent fun of the silly cards, candies, and school dances from childhood. For single men and women all over the world, it creates the social pressure of finding a date fast for February 14. Quickly enough, unattached adults have felt singled out fast by not being able to partake in the usual festivities.

In the U.S. and even other countries, Valentine’s Day is a time for quickening the search for love. In America and Australia, this creates a busy night of speed-dating events for eager singles. In Japan, women trek their way through the snow to the Kuzuryu shrine near Mount Fuji, where they pray for love.

Valentine’s Day has become a major retail sales season that kicks off the year. As the aisles of cheesy romantic gifts have multiplied, consumers have been force-fed the same message: If you aren’t in a romantic relationship, your life can’t be complete.

Instead, you can join millions of singles and couples, who will be ringing in the fun of Singles Awareness Day this February. Typically celebrated the day after Valentine’s Day, it’s a newer tradition that sheds the weight of the idealistic view of relationships, and allows everyone to come together for unhindered companionship, laughter, and happiness. Here are a few ideas for celebrating the upcoming Singles Awareness Day:

Share a Few Good Laughs about Love

There are a few Web sites out there that are helping spread love through laughter with special cards, t-shirts, mugs, and other products. Send a funny gift through popular online stores such as Café Press, Zazzle, eVisionArts, and Incognita, which each have their own line of relationship jokes that your friends or partner may love.

A company called Despair, Inc. is selling an odd collection of “Bittersweets” for the cynical singles, which are candy hearts with dysfunctional messages like “the dejected” or “recently dumped.” Or you may find the perfect words that Hallmark has overlooked – in the funny, yet honest anti-Valentine’s Day cards from American Greetings or Someecards.com.

Singles Unite for the Best Party Season

Put on your dancing shoes, because this is one of the biggest bashes of the year. Everywhere, singles are getting together with their friends for a fancy dinner, Nintendo WiiTM tournament, or the liveliest party on the block. See a few interesting ideas for hosting your own party.

Many exciting metropolitan cities, including San Diego, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Manhattan, are packed to the brim with parties. For example, last year in New York, the Helmsley Hotel hosted a special Valentine’s Day dinner, which proudly featured a Cupid-faced Satan ice sculpture, broken chocolate hearts, and paper shredders for patrons who wanted to shred old photos of exes.

Other areas have their own brand of expressing love. In 2007, the Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco put on the well-received cabaret show, “Love Bites the Hand That Feeds It.” There was also a Cleveland high school that did a reading of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart.”

Happy in Love? Make Every Day Count

If you’ve taken off the rose-colored glasses, you’ve probably found that love is not like it is in the movies. Anti-Valentine’s Day merchandise started from the notion that relationships are more complicated than hand-holding, kissing in public, and Hallmark-style sentiments. If you’re happily in love, why should you only express it on one day every year? There’s nothing more romantic and uplifting than being able to hold onto those feelings last all year long.