“What’s Galentine’s Day? Oh, it’s only the best day of the year!”
Valentine’s Day is primarily associated with romance. Roses, chocolate, candy hearts, cards and jewelry are given to sweethearts as tokens of love. But this holiday is not just about romance, it’s about celebrating all the people you love – including your friends!
Back in 2010, “Parks and Recreation” created Galentine’s Day, which takes place the day before Valentine’s Day. In the NBC show, Leslie Knope creates Galentine’s Day as a day to celebrate the love you have for your “gals,” aka your friends.
“Valentine’s Day is about romance, but February 13th, Galentine’s Day, is about celebrating lady friends!”
Leslie says this in the aptly named season two episode where she celebrates by taking her friends to brunch and lavishing them with gifts like massage gift cards and pillows embroidered with their own faces. Although the episode aired early in the show’s run, the tradition of Galentine’s Day has outlived the show and is still being celebrated today.
Love is about the true friends in our lives. The friends who call you when you need advice, make you laugh until your stomach hurts, check in on you after you’ve had a bad day and celebrate your biggest achievements. The bond between friends deserves to be celebrated and what better time than Galentine’s Day!
What should you and your gals do? Feel free to celebrate however you’d like! Host a brunch like Leslie, a movie marathon, go dancing – make it a big party or a small get-together – there’s no wrong way to do it.
You can even send out Galentine’s Day cards to your friends or make them a special gift like Leslie! (Except maybe skip the personalized pillows).
As great as Valentine’s is, the holiday centered around love can be difficult for those who are single or who have just gotten out of a relationship. For those who are spending the 14th without a significant other, Galentine’s Day can be the perfect opportunity to remind them how loved and cherished they are. And for those who are in a relationship, celebrating the day before frees up actual Valentine’s Day so they can spend it with their partner.
One of the biggest criticisms of this holiday is that it’s exclusionary and only meant to be celebrated by women. But the truth is, anyone can celebrate Galentine’s Day! Galentine’s is all about sharing your love with the people you are not romantically involved with and love knows no gender. Your Galentine’s Day party can include anyone who you consider a good friend. Just so long as they like waffles.
