Love & Dating | February 11th, 2025
Valentine’s Day: Celebrating Connections Beyond Romance
By: Trinity Talton | Online Editor
Valentine’s Day is a holiday filled with romance and love. It is a great day to spend with a partner. Many associate the day strictly with love from a romantic partner, but there are many ways to celebrate the holiday that don’t involve romance.
Valentine’s Day didn’t even initially start as a romantic holiday. Its origins are vague but can be traced to the Roman festival of Lupercalia, according to Britannica. Lupercalia was made to celebrate Lupercus, the god of fertility. The festival was the exact opposite of romantic—it was violent and sexual.
Priests of Lupercus would conduct sacrifices and take off their clothing to facilitate fertility. The festival was outlawed by Pope Gelasius I and occasionally replaced with Valentine’s Day. The holiday did not become a romantic affair until around the 14th century.
Although Valentine’s is now celebrated as romantic, it can be a day to show love to anyone, to celebrate with anyone, whether that is a friend, close family, or even just yourself. There are many ways to celebrate the holiday besides just with a partner.
For many, celebrating Valentine’s Day starts at home with their close family. For Darla Moore, a Florida A&M student from Tampa, Florida, her love for Valentine’s Day started in her childhood.
“Ever since I was little, my mother always made sure to get me and my brother chocolate from Walgreens,” Moore says. “It was always a Hershey’s chocolate bar and a little stuffed animal. I still have one of them to this day. Now that I’m older, she still makes an effort, and I use that to celebrate Valentine’s Day as an adult.”
Many also choose to spend the day with friends during the holiday. Many types of fun celebrations have emerged from the holiday, with the most popular being Galentine’s Day. According to USA Today, Galentine’s Day gained popularity in the 2010s and was coined as a term from the fictional character Leslie Knope from the sitcom Parks and Recreation.
Although the term Galentine’s Day refers to women spending time together on the holiday, it has transformed into an event that all can participate in, no matter who you are or if you are single or taken.
Valentine’s Day can also be a day to honor the ones in your life who value you. Through gifts, notes, or other means of affection, the holiday is a great way to show close ones what they mean to you. This thinking influences how Spencer Lovely, a Tallahassee resident, celebrates the holiday.
“Valentine’s Day is a day that I celebrate and honor the people in my life who never made me question my self-worth, who initiates and who is safe to be with,” Lovely says. “It’s a day for those who love me in the way I need. I cherish that connection.”
Although there are many ways to celebrate, sometimes sticking to tradition can be just as fulfilling. Ayannah Anderson, a senior TCC student, is excited to celebrate Valentine’s Day with her lover this year.
“The things I have done for Valentine’s Day have changed because I have a partner that I see a long future with,” Anderson stated. “Now that I have a partner in my life, I don’t necessarily feel like I need to celebrate, but I would like to do something every year from now on. I think of it as a day of appreciation.”
No matter how you celebrate Valentine’s Day or who you spend it with, it’s important to spend Valentine’s Day showing love to the people you care for in your life.
