February 14th, Valentine’s Day, is a day to express your love for the people in your life. The media tends to romanticize having a relationship and having a date on Valentine’s Day. This causes people to believe that you can’t be happy unless you have a date or partner. Many people also think it’s time to start romanticizing self-care and having a date with themselves.
“I think self-care is really important. Spending that time and learning more about yourself because if you don’t correctly love yourself then there’s no way to correctly love others,” senior Trinity Hernandez said.
Self-care is defined as, “the practice of individuals looking after their own health using the knowledge and information available to them” by the Global Self-Care Federation. Many people will believe that health will only mean their physical self, but mental health is as important as physical health.
Examples of self-care can be going for a walk, journaling, aromatherapy, or even participating in a favorite hobby. Taking time to do what is important to the person can be an example of self-care.
Many people feel Valentine’s Day is a reminder of how lonely they are. Sadly, many people forget that a crucial part of being in a relationship with another person is learning to love one’s self first. Whether someone has a partner or not, prioritizing one’s mental health is very important. Oftentimes, the first step to prioritizing one’s mental health is to focus on your physical health as well. Exercising can cause good feeling neurotransmitters and even though working out is not always the most fun thing to do, its effects are immediate.
Unlike feeling the effects immediately with working out, self-love is a process. You must repeat positive actions to learn more about yourself and your brain.
What better time to start working on self-care than Valentine’s Day? Starting this self-care journey can be intimidating but taking small steps can make this process much easier.
“Since I have the day off from work, I’m planning on baking with my mom. I know it would mean a lot to her if I spent time with her,” junior Alyssa Campos. “Baking relates to self-care because I put time and effort into something that will make me happy and into something that I know will taste super yummy and delicious. Putting time and effort into cooking for yourself nourishes your body and your mind.”
Self-care isn’t complicated. It can be as simple as partaking in a favorite hobby. Campos talks about how not only baking can be as simple as enjoying time with her or someone else, but it could also turn into a skill of helping develop nourishment and overall make her or anyone happier.
In this day and age, there’s so much emphasis on likes and follower counts. People are so dependent on these numbers that it can affect their self-esteem. This Valentine’s Day people should get off of social media and take time for themselves. Validation doesn’t come from others, it comes from within.
“Taking that time to reward myself because I feel like everyone is so scared about how others perceive them or like how they treat others but like it’s how you treat yourself, it reflects. How you treat others is a reflection of yourself,” Hernandez said.
Self-care is not based on gender. Men also should prioritize themselves and their mental health as well.
“I think everybody should practice self-care. It’s really important to take care of yourself and understand your emotions,” senior Gavin Arcineiga said. “It’s not healthy bottling your emotions and guys tend to do that more than girls. That typically leads to unhealthy habits for guys.”
Self-care is somewhat of a spectrum. Everyone takes care of themselves in different ways whether it is a hobby, a special activity, or spending time with a special someone. Self-care is an important part of growing up and growing as a person. Valentine’s Day may seem like it’s about loving others but more importantly, people shouldn’t forget to love themselves.
