10 Valentine’s Day Ideas for Singles During COVID!
First of all, I don’t recommend going out to do anything since the Holidays amplified the COVID numbers. So, if you’re staying in and planning on having a gathering, please still use some precautions, handwashing, coughing into your elbow, avoiding people who are coughing, and, unlike me, stop touching your eyes! I’m only going to throw out some ideas for you to do if you’re spending time at home alone. Some ideas work for both.
- Practicing that Yoga or Pilates or whatever it is that you said you were going to do at New Year’s…mindfulness and whatnot…
- If you made a New Year’s Resolution, why not try it out or at least dedicate 30 minutes or so to it while you’re trapped inside? Yoga is actually a great way to practice mindfulness because, during all of that balancing act, you’re truly focused in the moment. You don’t have to work on clearing your mind because you can’t help but be focused on being balanced and deep stretching.
- Order some takeout- pamper yourself tonight!
- I prefer Chinese, but feel free to get pizza (I’m sure there will be a sale). Tonight isn’t about a diet or reminding yourself of all of the carbs you’re downing. (YUM!) No dieting tonight, but don’t forget to start again tomorrow.
- Cozy up to some cheesy, romantic Christmas movies. (They’re my favorite!) Don’t forget popcorn!
- I’m such a corny cheeseball, but I’ve still been watching Christmas movies on Tubi (a channel on Roku), but, hey, it’s a holiday and it’s still cold outside.
- Run a hot bath with your favorite music and a glass of wine.
- If you’re looking for something chill and sexy: Cigarettes After Sex. If you’re looking for something upbeat and sweet: Kat Edmonson. If you can’t figure it out, try one of the Bobs: Bob Dylan (never waste your money on a concert ticket, but I still love his music, he just doesn’t play it at his concerts), Bob Marley, or Bob Seger. If none of those will do, there’s always Hank! (if you don’t know who that is, I’m not sure you’re old enough to read this…
- Host a Skype party with other single friends and family. Don’t forget the wine!
- Every good host or hostess knows to make sure that there is wine flowing at a party. Have a themed party, do your yoga with friends and family, watch a movie together, just have fun. Some people are social people who gather energy from interacting with others (extroverts) and some people gather energy from downtime (introverts) who might be tired of interacting via technology or be plenty happy with just being by themselves. You decide.
- Mani/Pedi time! Go pink, red, blue, or black.
- The point of this is to practice some kind of self-care. I just put Mani/Pedi because this is my personal thing that I do to keep up my appearance. My saying is that: “if my toes aren’t painted, then something is wrong”, meaning I’m either too sick or too depressed to paint them or care. I went through a very gray phase at the end of my marriage. I had a girls’ night every couple of weeks with a couple of friends and we would do Mani/Pedis, masks, and pore strips (nothing like pulling dirt out of your pores and sharing it with your friends!)
- Clean (limit this to one area, if this is your de-stressor thing).
- First of all, this isn’t my thing, but I will say that I am totally stressed if there is a mess somewhere that upsets the aesthetics of the room. Pile of dirty clothes, floor that needs swept, etc. So, if this helps you de-stress, that’s great, but limit it to one area. I often start in one room and end up running all over the house, declutter here, scrub there, organize here…I know I’m not the only one either. Don’t spend your whole evening cleaning, that’s not the kind of relaxation you need or deserve.
- Paint or create something! You know you have something in the house that is laying around waiting to be used.
- You can order kits from Amazon or somewhere to paint or be creative for the evening, but, if you’re like me and everyone else in the world, there is some project laying around half-finished that you can work on and, possibly, complete. There’s nothing like that feeling of accomplishment. You can always paint some rocks and spread them around to different places to surprise and, maybe, make someone’s day. Even little things can make people smile sometimes on the worst of days.
- Sing along to some tunes that take you to your happy place. Get lost in the YouTube rabbit-hole.
- I know people fall down the Pinterest rabbit-hole, but I don’t know if you get lost down the YouTube rabbit-hole like me. If I’m stuck with a poem or a blog post or a song is randomly in my head, suddenly, I’m thirteen and all of the weight of the world is on my careless little shoulders. Think about what age you would go back to if you could, a middle school dance memory? A high school post-prom party? The first CD’s (yes, that’s my age) you were given as gifts? Go there for a minute and think about that. It will be fun to lose yourself for awhile and, if a sad memory pops up without notice, just let it come and feel it. Too often we try to repress those memories because crying isn’t always something we can do in the moment, but, if you’re alone, who cares? It’s ok to let those emotions out.
- Selfie challenge: Get at least 5 selfies that you actually like and want to post.
- You might be super-photogenic, but, for people like me, it takes a little time and the right lighting to get the pics I like enough to post on Instagram or wherever. Have fun with this one. Try on some scarves and old hats that you have laying around. Try on some different outfits. Just play around and do your own “Walking on Sunshine” montage of outfits and snap some selfies.
Living Single
Being single is not some disease to avoid like the plague. Being with the right person is what matters and, if you’re not, you’re alone already so why wait for the next person to come along to be with? We’re not monkeys meant to jump from person to person so, if this is a pattern that you have fallen into, take some time out to re-evaluate why you’ve adopted this pattern and how you can adjust yourself, or your tastes accordingly.
I always kind of liked being single. You never have to wonder where something is because you are the only one who moves things around, you only clean up after yourself and have your own laundry to do (big plus if you don’t have a washer and dryer), and no one is judging you if your idea of making dinner is takeout or ice cream. You can go to bed at 6pm because your body is starting to give out (I wouldn’t know anything about this, of course), you can take a personal day and sleep, and, on Saturday, you’re in charge of how you waste your time. I firmly believe that, when you stop trying so hard, God puts someone in your path whose love is unconditional and unwavering. Best wishes this Valentine’s Day! Stay safe and healthy!
**All pics are always from FreePik or Adobe Stock and title pic designed using Canva.
1 Comment
finest article, i like it