Love is in the air as the Valentine’s season is here. With the pressure of social media inundating people’s minds, partners are expected to go the extra mile through the most extravagant ways, from decorated hotel rooms to expensive dinners. It has gotten to the point where it feels performative and has become less about love and more about bragging rights.
A friend of mine from high school took extra shifts at work in order to be able to afford to take his girlfriend to an expensive restaurant for Valentine’s Day. He also mentioned that he was struggling financially after trying to meet the unrealistic standards. Love should not be that stressful, showing that in today’s world, Valentine’s Day has become nothing more than a competition of who can buy the most expensive gift, especially on social media.
This unnecessary pressure has started to negatively affect college students. At this point in our lives, we are barely able to find employment, so we cannot reasonably afford to buy these expensive gifts. It is difficult to understand why some extravagant act is expected from partners at this age.
Going above and beyond on this holiday requires one to be doing well financially. Before buying unnecessary gifts, we need to focus first on our financial wellbeing. The love that two individuals share on a daily basis should outweigh any expensive gifts. This is not to say that they are insignificant, but now it seems like a chore to get them every year, even if we cannot afford it. Love should be shown to each other always, not just for one day of the year.
A good alternative to an expensive gift is spending quality time together, such as having a picnic. Making little treats for the love of your life shows that you’re financially responsible and it allows you and your partner to appreciate the outdoors, a crafted meal and each other’s presence. You could also go to a concert, an opera, a play or any other experience to share together; a person will remember the experiences that they’ve had with their partner, good and bad, more vividly than the gifts that were given.
While seeing everyone impress their partners on social media can be intimidating, we must also realize that almost everything that is posted online is a snapshot of perfection, not truly rooted in reality. We are all human beings trying to make it through every day and have nothing to prove to anyone, making extravagant gifts ancillary to the small, everyday moments of love we show to the people in our lives.
