Thursday 5 January 2012

All The Single Ladies, Put Your Hands Up...

There are lots of ‘holidays’ that are celebrated throughout the year.  Christmas and New Year obviously, and St Patricks Day for all the alcoholics.  St George’s Day for the people that like a bit of patriotism, Easter for the religious types (and the people that like chocolate), Valentine’s Day for all the couples...

Valentine’s Day is nice when you are in a relationship, but I do think it’s a bit of a waste of time.  The restaurants all do set menus and put their prices up so you need to take out a loan just to eat there.  You HAVE to buy your boyfriend a stupid present because there is literally no Valentine’s day related product in the WORLD that a boy would ever want.  Arguments start because the boy has been rubbish with getting a good Valentine’s day present or arranging for you to do something nice.  Girlfriends feel let down by their boyfriends because they don’t want to go mental and celebrate it.  It’s nice, but it’s just HASSLE. 

Last year was the first time in 8 years I had been single on Valentine’s Day.  I wasn’t sure what my plans were going to be at the start of the year, but I ended up going to my friends house and having dinner with her and some of the other single girls and do you know what?  It was one of the best Valentines Day’s I had ever had.  We bought each other cards and stupid little presents – it was relaxed, and I spent it with the people I do love the most in the whole world, and that is what Valentine’s Day should be about.  It SHOULDN’T be about who got the biggest bunch of flowers delivered to the office, or how many different fridge magnets your mug boyfriend bought you declaring his undying love.

This brings me onto today, National Singles Day.  I bet you didn’t even know it was National Singles Day did you?  That’s what the problem is here, we have all these holidays but nothing to celebrate the fact people are alone and HAPPY ABOUT IT.  If you are currently single and enjoying yourself, then this is something to be celebrated (and n.b. I mean REALLY enjoying yourself, not enjoying yourself with 5 different men at one time).  This criteria includes:  Going out and having a good time with your friends, enjoying your life, being yourself regardless of what anyone thinks, and not having to worry about anyone apart from yourself.  Doing things you want to do FOR YOU.  These are all things you can’t do that well when you are in a relationship, but they are all things that should be celebrated and encouraged!  3 of my best friends are all single (Charlie, Jo and Hollie in case any of you boys have been eyeing them up on here!!!), so we see each other a lot – I am sure if you’ve read my previous blog posts you’ll know what sort of year I had in 2011, and this is all because of them and nothing to do with boyyys.  I don’t want to be in a relationship right now, I want to be on my own.  All the couples get to swan around all smug on Valentines Day, buying each other pink cards and basically making me want to vom into my handbag.  But all the single people don’t get to walk around all smug today, groping strangers crotches and buying themselves presents because they love themselves more than they could love any boy.  I am annoyed about this.  I love the fact I am single and I do want to let everyone know I am happy about it. 

I am aware that this post could look a bit manic, and a bit like I am bitter about being single but I promise you it’s the total opposite.  When my friends and I tweet each other, we can often be seen using the hashtag #LOL – this stands for Love Our Lives, and I have said that so much within the last year that even I am over that phrase by now, but it’s the truth.  For the first time since I can remember, I do 100% love my life and it’s nothing to do with a boy.  I am not totally anti-men, if I met someone I liked and we got together I would probably write a blog post about the first steps in a relationship and how much I am loving life etc, but I want to celebrate today because you can’t be happy with someone else unless you are truly happy with yourself, and I am HAPPY.  A few people on Twitter today commented about National Singles Day but said it was a bit depressing – when I found out it was National Singles Day I nearly shat myself with excitement!

Don’t get me wrong, I will be celebrating Valentine’s Day with Charlie, Jo and Hollie, just not in the most conventional way.  Restaurants are normally ones to be avoided for singletons on this night because everyone in them is IN LOVE and practically dry humping each other between their main course and dessert, but this year we thought we’d beat them at their own game.  We have booked a table in an amazing restaurant near us called Sheesh.  We plan to eat, shout, scream, laugh and eye up any potential male specimens in the restaurant, regardless of whether they are with their girlfriends or not.  We want to have fun and a good time, and I guarantee half of the girls in the place with their boyfriends will look at our table, see how much fun we are having and be jealous.  Do you know why will be doing this on Valentine’s Day?  Because we can.  We don’t have any obligations to a boy, we don’t HAVE to go to Clinton Cards and buy a load of sh*t just so we fit in with everyone else and have participated in Valentine’s Day.  We are doing this because we want to, not because we have to and because we know like everything else we do, it’ll be full of bants.

Due to it now being National Singles Day, I am calling on all the happy singletons out there to stand up and celebrate.  Buy yourself a massive bar of chocolate on the way home and eat it all to yourself, and SMILE because you have no one you have to share it with.  Go home and watch the sort of chick flick a boy would hate but you love, because you don’t have to take anyone else’s feelings into consideration.  Do whatever you want to do, whenever you want to do it.  Today is our day, and although every day for a singleton is a day of freedom, TODAY is the day WE get to be smug about it.

*smugface*

To my lovely single ladies... who knew being single could be this much fun?

2 comments:

  1. dude this is awsome! made me tear up a bit x love my friends too! they make me happier than the boyf!
    :) x

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  2. Thanks very much - I just wanted everyone that's single today and having fun to congratulate themselves and celebrate, we deserve it too! x

    ReplyDelete