The danger of trend culture has spread to Valentine’s Day, now turning love into a contest.

Over many decades, the human tendency of attention has overpowered what was once a genuine way to celebrate affection into a trend-following and superficial mindset.

Although Valentine’s Day is currently celebrated as a gesture of love, its origin is blurred across different cultures and religions, according to the World History Encyclopedia. 

Nonetheless, what all cultures and religions have in common is a constant change in the way Valentine’s is celebrated. 

Back in A.D. 270, people would skin goats and slap women with goat hides, according to History website. 

In general, as human nature changes, holidays change with it. Now more common ways to celebrate are handwritten letters and social media posts.

Valentine’s Day has shifted from mainly physical romance to also cherishing one’s platonic relationships, a factor that most tend to overlook. 

Around 52% of people say they tend to dedicate the holiday to their significant other, while 43.3% say they prefer to celebrate with family, friends and even pets, according to Northwestern Medill.

Personally, I am part of the 43.3% because my labradoodle Zeus would be very disappointed if I stood him up for our scheduled nap on the 14th.

However, being on one side over the other didn’t alter what I came to believe.

Around this time of year I always notice two attitudes encountering Valentine’s Day. 

The first is the basic festive one that has everyone scrambling to make fancy dinner reservations, buy chocolates and post on social media.

The other attitude is the part where people hope all happy couples burst into flames and refuse to show any signs of affection.

Either side involves people having to put so much energy into either planning a date or coming up with creative insults, but in reality neither is sustainable long-term.

Nobody cares about your relationship status or how much was spent on celebrating a single day and nobody cares if you spend the days leading up to Valentine’s Day wallowing in self pity.

Privacy, as well as doing things for yourself is a holy grail, a sacred gift that one must protect. 

While everyone likes a bit of validation, maintaining an overall private profile isn’t just quaint, it is vital.

True toxicity stems from comparing your relationship or way of celebrating to others. 

A couple’s happiness can not be measured by whether or not they followed this year’s Valentine’s Day trend or if they posted the cutest collage of photos out of all their peers.

I’ve watched viral videos of people breaking up with their partners simply for not being asked to be their valentine. How silly.

Being someone’s valentine is a way to get people to buy and consume more, when really you can get each other gifts at any time of the year. 

This holiday is slowly losing its once genuine sentimental value, becoming commercialized and superficial, with nearly 26 billion dollars being spent worldwide, according to a Feb. 4, 2025 PR Newswire article.

You don’t need an excuse or holiday to demonstrate affection. Don’t fall for Big Pharma’s luring trap.

Everyday moments that aren’t filtered or captioned matter more than the curated stories that everyone else sees.

No one actually cares as much as it may seem and it is freeing to be able to live without constant surveillance or posed moments. 

Rejoice that you don’t have standards to meet or people to please.

Valentine’s Day is optional. At times it can be a capitalistic scam or a genuine way to demonstrate affection and appreciation, but how you spend the day ultimately doesn’t matter.