The origin of Valentine’s day comes from a Christian feast day celebrating a Christian martyr named Saint Valentine. According to old legends, Saint Valentine would perform weddings for Christian soldiers who were forbidden to marry. Through folktale and later traditions, this holiday became a celebration of romance and love. By the mid-18th century, it became popular for friends and lovers to send small gifts and handwritten notes, and by the 1900s, these notes became widely used and referred to as “valentines.”
Presently, Valentine’s Day is known as a day to celebrate your significant other. Couples buy gifts, flowers, and chocolates for each other, send love notes and take each other out on nice dates. However, Valentine’s Day shouldn’t be completely centered around relationships. It should also be a day to celebrate self love and practice self care.
Self care comes in many different forms and many people take care of themselves in different ways. For instance, it could mean practicing good hygiene, meditating, exercising, listening to music and more. Freshman Obonti Zaman makes time for herself by finishing all her homework as fast as she can so she can have the rest of the evening to herself. Zaman practices self care by relaxing, laying in bed, talking with friends and dancing. Senior Paul Long likes to use his time alone to recharge with naps after school.
A different form of self care could be choosing to prioritize yourself and your mental health. Sophomore Angelina Sattori shows this as she explains that her favorite form of self care is staying away from mean and toxic people. Self care differs from person to person, but any action of caring for your physical and mental well being is beneficial for everyone.
According to the client leader at the Wellness Council of America, practicing self care positively impacts your health by reducing stress, increasing productivity, increasing self esteem, and it can even go as far to improve one’s immune system.
Valentine’s day has always been a time for displaying your love for others, but this day should also be an opportunity to show yourself some kindness.