We all have dreams, right? Whether it be getting accepted into your favored college or somehow acing that math test you forgot to study for the night before, it is a simple fact that we all have goals that we want to achieve. A common dream that every average teenager may have in mind, however, can be described with the use of only one word: love. Love can be a rather complicated subject; while most of us have the thought of finding love lingering in the back of our minds, some of us push aside the notion for the sake of our own well-being. After all, who needs to be in love when you have the whole world at your fingertips? You can spend your entire life avoiding the concept entirely, turning your head at even the slightest tinge of romance that you may come across.  

That is, until Valentine’s Day hits you like a freight train. 

While some may regard this holiday as simply a way to express love in a variety of different ways, there is no hiding from the fact that romance is one of the primary associations with this event. No matter where you look and turn, whether it be at your local Wal-Mart or even at home on social media, romance is everywhere. Aisles and aisles at the front of each store are plastered with pink-colored bears and hearts of all shapes and sizes. Chocolates are concealed within different containers, each with various assortments and flavors that would make even the biggest, sweet tooth shrivel up just at the mere sight of it. There is no escape from this holiday and the gargantuan teddy bears, and February 14th is most certainly not coming off the 2021 calendar anytime soon. The only question is: how do we escape this never-ending loophole of sappy sweets and heart-shaped treats? Do we need to burrow ourselves underground for an entire day and force ourselves to ramp up the quarantine to the next level? 

The answer is simple really: give this holiday to yourself! 

But how exactly do you dedicate an entire holiday to yourself? You have probably heard the inspirational messages about self-care and staying hydrated, and although these things are important, as a single person having to climb through the massive piles of chocolate hearts and lengthy relationship posts, making room to spend time for yourself can seem like a bit of a challenge. However, being solo on Valentine’s Day has many perks regardless how lonely it may seem. For one, you can treat the chocolate aisle as your own personal candy store, picking and choosing which snacks are perfect for your nightly routine of binge-watching Netflix until your eyeballs nearly pop out of your sockets.  

Another perk of this holiday is the assortment of cute plushies that you can choose from, and if giving gifts to yourself is not your forte, you can plan to give the gift to someone else (with a six feet distance of course). Give the day to yourself to relax and enjoy the benefits of singlehood, and maybe treat yourself to a nice dinner of take-out or two. If all these options seem a bit pricey for you, it does not hurt to cook up something nice for yourself or sit down and enjoy your favorite TV show or video game. With the bears and hearts populating the stores like wildfire, you can be assured that you are quarantined by not only COVID-19, but romance as well.