All You Need is Love

So Saturday was Valentine's Day. Ya know, the day about love and relationships, where men buy large amounts of meaningless gifts that they really don't care about - just to make girls happy? Yeah, that one. In my almost 23 years of living, I've had a "valentine" once. The rest of the time I walked around and moaned and complained about being single. While the rest of my friends rode off into the sunset with Prince Charming, I sat at home watching my sappy chick-flick collection wondering how it was possible that Ewan McGregor choose the "beautiful courtesan" over me; when clearly I would have supported him for who he was: a broke, hopelessly bohemian writer.

This Valentine's Day, however, something changed. As the dreaded day approached, I encountered tons of ill feelings about the holiday. Plenty of Facebook statuses counting down the days to ultimate misery, others who vocally expressed their distaste for the opposite sex, and more than enough comments about how it's a holiday made up by the greeting card companies. I found myself sucked in by the cynicism of everyone around me. I had become a royal V-Day Scrooge, about to be visited by the Ghost of Valentine's Present.

One of my mission companions had proposed a ladies night, and I was totally down with "sticking it to the man" by not having a man. To be honest, I was anticipating a repeat of previous V-Day evenings, only with more people involved. In bitterness I quietly reassured myself that I didn't need a guy to make me happy... and that I wasn't bitter.

When it was time for said party, I made sure to look as cute as possible, threw together my salad, and headed over to Healey's house. Upon arrival I was greeted warmly by 6 of my closest friends (all looking fabulous), and the place completely decked out in Valentine's Day decorations. We all ate dinner, had dessert, and then launched into games that made me laugh harder than I've done in a long time. There's something about hanging with the girls. Sisterhood is the best feeling in the world. No one gets you as a woman, like another woman... it sounds logical, but until you get it, you just don't get it.

Through the whole experience, I learned that Valentine's Day isn't so much about having a boyfriend (or girlfriend for my male readers), it's about one thing. Love. Sometimes we become culturally caught up in life, and define things that need not be defined. Who says you need to have a sweetheart to be happy on Valentine's Day? And who says you need to listen to that person? No one. Life is about living, it's about being happy. The world is going to turn the same no matter what our relationship status is, so we may as well find excuses to be happy instead of searching for reasons to be miserable. All we need is love, who cares if it comes from your best friend, your mom, or even your cat. At least you have it, and the least you can do is spread it.