The Lie Society Tells Us: Valentine's Day

As you all probably know, Valentine's Day was this past Sunday. This is a day that can be both good and bad for a lot of people, as it is generally regarded to be all about romance. This is great for those who are in romantic relationships and have someone to spend it with, but not so great for those who don't, and may end up feeling lonely or even depressed. And a lot of this has to do with a few key lies our society tells us about love and romance.

LIE: Romantic relationships are more important than platonic ones.

This is a really common misconception our society has, and it's pretty well exemplified by things like the "friend zone" or being "just friends" or wanting those two friends on that TV show to finally be a couple, among other situations. And yes, romantic relationships are understood to be a bit more than friendly, most of the time, and yes, they are important. However, that doesn't mean they are more important. Friendships may often be longer lasting, deeper relationships than the dating relationships our society favors.

That said, romantic relationships are also not less important than friendships, since romantic relationships should also be friendships to begin with.

LIE: You need a romantic relationship to be worth something.

Society makes quite a big deal out of this one, too. People act like there is something wrong with a person if they "can't get a date" or "can't keep a relationship." People feel that because they are single, that they are undesirable or flawed in some way. And that's just not true. There are plenty of people who have never been in a relationship who are wonderful people. How many dates you've been on is not a way of measuring how good of a person you are. Value is not defined by love life.

LIE: Love, like everything else, is disposable.

Honestly, our society has a very conflicting perspective when it comes to love. One one hand, we throw around the word like it means absolutely nothing. We love food, music, celebrities, lots of things that we don't really love.

But on the other hand, we can be so afraid of telling people we love them, either because it seems weird (particularly in the case of telling friends we love them), or because our society is so afraid of committing to anything. That's what love is, or what it should be: a commitment, and we live in a throw-away society.

So, in the days following Valentine's day (or single's awareness day, as some people like to call it), don't be upset by the things society tells us because so many of them are lies.