It puts people on the spot about their relationships. If you are not seeing anyone, you are left out unless your friends have an alternative like Galentines Day. If you are seeing someone, are you in like or in love? What is the appropriate gesture supposed to be? Does Hallmark make a card that matches your feelings?

Rather than getting hung up on an artificial holiday, maybe you should be focusing on your feelings about your partner and how well you know each other. It is important to discuss what makes each of you feel loved. What to give your partner depends on their love language. If you are in a relationship with someone who measures love in gifts, a gift is important. If your partner is more about security and intimacy, a homemade candlelit dinner may do the trick. If your partner values the home you create together, fixing things or cleaning up may say “I love you.” If feeling loved is about shared experience, a day trip or activity for just the two of you will work.

Don’t make assumptions about what showing love means to your partner. Ask! And don’t take for granted that your partner knows what you need without being told. Share!