I Can Buy Myself Flowers - Why Self-Love is the New Focus this February
Love comes in many forms, but all Valentine’s seems to do is celebrate the love of a couple. Thankfully, there’s a much more suitable day that’s inclusive of everyone. We haven’t made this up: it’s International Self-Love Day.
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You can probably already feel it in your waters. The waft of rose petals in the air, Woolies putting the Cadbury gift boxes front ‘n’ centre in the aisles, and servos around the nation stocking up on cheap stuffed teddy bears and flower buckets.
Yep, Valentine’s Day is upon us - and that collective groan you’re hearing is everyone wondering why a money-making holiday that frankly, made a lot more sense in a past millennium keeps rearing its chocolatey head in the 2020’s.
Don’t get us wrong, we’re all for love! But the inclusive, connected kind. Love comes in many forms, and when all Valentine’s seems to do is celebrate the love of a couple (and traditionally, a hetero-normative couple at that) - well, that’s pretty exclusionary for a lot of us regular folk. So if you’re unattached - or part of anything other than a guy/girl duo - you’re way more likely to roll your eyes at the idea of Valentine’s Day than you are to rush out and buy a Hallmark card.
There’s actual data underpinning this. On Valentine’s Day each year, there’s a huge spike in online searches surrounding being alone and feelings of loneliness. And we mean huge:
“Valentine's Day sees a 455 percent uptick in searches for the word "alone." "Lonely" jumps by 321 percent, "sad" by 155 percent, and because there are always cynics out there, "eyeroll" increases by 441 percent.”
cnet.com
It’s all driven by an outmoded and outdated narrative: that you need external validation (like a boyfriend or significant other) to feel “proper” love. But it’s 2023. That story has changed, and it’s time Valentine’s Day changed too. Thankfully, there’s a much more suitable day that’s inclusive of everyone. It’s fun to jump into, you can celebrate it anyway you like, and hyper-conveniently, it’s just the day before daggy old Valentine’s Day - on Monday, February 13th. We haven’t made this up: it’s International Self-Love Day.
Designed as a holiday to harness the power of self-love and boost our confidence and courage, we’re getting behind Self-Love Day as a way to lessen those feelings of loneliness. Because “being alone” or single doesn’t mean you can’t feel love, or bathe in that warm glow of self-worth - you know, the glow that Big ValentineTM tries to convince you only comes from heart-shaped boxes with red ribbons around them.
“Self-Love Day is all about understanding the positive impact self-love can have on our lives. Self-love is the best kind of love: it can help us appreciate ourselves better, and provide a huge confidence boost. Self-love can help us develop a healthy lifestyle, have more self-esteem, and acquire satisfaction in life.”
Christine Arylo, Founder, International Self-Love Day
No plans for Self-Love Day yet? Why not take yourself out on a date. Let’s call it… your #SelfLoveDayte. Love gardening? Get those fingers & toes in the soil with a li’l community garden action. Love the outdoors? Bust out your hiking boots and SPF50+, gang. Need a stretch? Jump online and search for free yoga or tai chi sessions in your local park. Make it anything that you feel enriches you. After all, the concept of self-love has been around since the Ancient Greeks - Aristotle himself discussed self-love back in 350BC, labelling it one of his six main types of love. Fast forward a few millennia and Spinoza, a Dutch philosopher, considered self-love to be “the highest virtue”. And who are we to argue with those guys?
If you still need convincing, we can turn to that modern-day philosopher, Ms. Miley Cyrus. Shall we enjoy her latest lyrics, perfectly championing self-worth? We shall! [clears throat]
I can buy myself flowers… Write my name in the sand
Talk to myself for hours… Say things you don't understand
I can take myself dancing… And I can hold my own hand
Yeah, I can love me better than you can
A trip to the beach, a shimmy on the D-floor and a good chinwag with the person you know best in the whole world?? Sounds like a pretty sweet #SelfLoveDayte to us! Although, since we ARE good.film, we’d have to add one other wonderful self-love activity to really round things out. It’s best when you settle in and make yourself comfortable, the lights dim wayyy down low, and the really good ones transport you to another world and feel like they’re over way too fast…
It’s the movies guys! Going to the cinema! Wait, WTF did you think we were talking about?!
Whatever it was, we’re big believers in the power of movies to change your mind and rock your world (no, not in that way). So while there’s plenty of great ways to show love to yourself on #SelfLoveDayte, treating yourself to a trip to the cinema is right up there for us. They might “only” be flickering on a screen, but connecting to vivid characters, new experiences and different worlds can mean we’re leaving the theatre with a whole new perspective. Why not add a movie trip to your #SelfLoveDayte plans this year? We’ll see you there!
