5 Things to Do If You’re Single on Valentine’s Day

From martyred Christian saints to a pagan fertility festival featuring sacred caves, a she-wolf and some goats’ hides, St. Valentine’s Day has quite the murky and mysterious history. It wasn’t until the middle of the 18^th century that friends and lovers began to exchange small tokens and notes, forging V-Day’s fanciful future. Our point? It’s not so bad to be single on the big day of love – after all you could be a saint on your way to the chopping block, or some unsuspecting young maiden getting slapped with a goat hide in hopes for a fruitful spring. 

Nevertheless navigating a modern Valentine’s Day when you are unattached can be a bit of a challenge. So, here at insidewink, we decided to cook up a list of ways to spend this coupled-up holiday uncoupled. From finding a new hobby to spending the day doing your community some good, the following suggestions can help take your mind off your relationship status and place it on the bigger message of the holiday: celebrating love. 

—5 ideas —

What To Do If You are Alone on Valentine’s Day

While your first instinct might be to sit home alone, hoovering chocolates, binging rom-coms, and wishing for a second-half to lavish with affection, a better way to spend the day is showering some of that love on those who need it most.

Volunteering on V-Day is a wonderful way to spread some cheer at your local children’s hospital or nursing home. You can bring small gifts to patients. Your reward? Big smiles, meaningful conversations, and the realization that the opportunity to give love is always available. Plus, as an added bonus, volunteering can open the doors to both social and professional opportunities, helping you meet like-minded people, expanding your circle of friends, and opening the door to new relationships.

One of the best things about being single is the freedom to spend your time any way that you like, so take some of that time to try something new. Commit the day to exploring a pastime that has always interested you, but that you’ve never given yourself the opportunity to try.

Technology has put cameras in all our hands, so go to some of your favorite spots, or even a place you’ve never been and snap away. Teach yourself to knit or crochet. You might even plant some seeds that will bring fresh life to those grey days in March and April. If you live in the south or west, try some cool weather veggies like beets and carrots or if the ground where you dwell is frozen, consider an indoor herb garden to spice up winter soups and stews. You might even cook up a way to make some extra bucks with your new pursuits.

Many hobbies, such as photography, jewelry-making, knitting, or perfecting those loaves of sourdough that became so ubiquitous during the pandemic, come with the secondary benefit of offering an opportunity to earn some extra cash. Wouldn’t that be a dream come true, being your own boss? Use this Valentine’s Day to brainstorm some ideas that could transform your true passion into a business you love. 

If there’s anything more annoying than listening to your coupled-up workmates brag about all the goodies they raked in on V-Day while you spent the night in your rattiest PJs cleaning lint out of your computer, we don’t know what it is. After all, who doesn’t love a good gift?

The great news is, no one knows your size, your taste, your deep desire for that cherry-red stackable washer and dryer better than you. Whether you’re longing for a portable back massager, rainbow Gladiator sandals or skull-shaped terrarium (hey, to each their own,) give it to yourself. Gadgets, including smartwatches and Bluetooth earbuds, can help you streamline your activities, keep you healthy, and even declutter your home.

If you’re on a post-Christmas budget, Digital Trends’ list of gadgets features more than a dozen of the coolest new items you can buy right now, most of which are less than $20. Or if you’re looking to go a little wild, BestProducts.com has a list of 50 luxury gifts well worth the splurge.

While Valentine’s Day might the last evening you’d consider eating out alone, our friends at Bon Appétit would tell you differently. While they advise to skip typical “date-night” places to avoid feeling like a “putz,” (we totally get that,) they suggest settling in to eat at the bar of “difficult-to-get-in restaurants,” ordering “tapas style” to avoid one, big, lonely plate and doing something to occupy yourself, such as write in a small journal, read a book, or even wonder about random things like “’Who is the Jimi Hendrix of the tuba?'”

You might also consider booking a solo vacation. WendyPerrin.com, the eponymous blog of former Condé Nast Traveler executive Wendy Perrin, offers lots of prime advice on places to visit in February. Whether it’s the great outdoors that’s calling – skiing on the slopes of Colorado, exploring ancient Mayan ruins in Mexico – or inside pursuits, wandering the museums of Paris and studying the cathedrals of Seville – there are many destinations perfectly suited for a lone traveler.

Insidewink is big on sharing the good, and who better to share it with than you? Learning to love yourself fully and completely may take a lifetime, but how better to spend your decades on the planet than creating the fullest, richest, most loving experience for yourself as possible. Studies show that using affirmations, loving support sentences activate the reward centers in your brain, the ones that respond to pleasurable experiences, eventually changing neural pathways and creating new beliefs and feelings about yourself. In fact, according to Psychology Today, loving yourself has become the latest in #relationshipgoals and that more self-love creates a shift in your energy that attracts better lifelong mates. And who doesn’t want that? 

Have a Great Day

So, don’t let this Valentine’s Day come and go without marking the occasion, especially if you’re single. Going that extra mile to connect with those in need, to expand your horizons, to travel, to treat yourself, and most of all to love yourself just a bit more than you did yesterday may not only boost your mood, but create paradigm shifts that lead to a fuller, richer life. You deserve it!