The celebration of Valentine’s Day is the perfect time to honor people we love through shopping for tiny tokens of admiration like bringing them fattening chocolates and flowers that die within the week.

We all experience the high expectations that Valentine’s Day brings. Everyone wants a beau or belle to spend the day whispering sweet nothings to, and nobody wants to be the person left to eat someone’s leftover goodies while pining over other couples’ relationships.

Men in supermarkets roam around the aisles looking for roses and chocolate for their loved one, but I spend my time looking for a box of chocolate with the word “SINGLE.” All this time spent by myself on Valentine’s Day makes me feel the opposite of loved.

Though Valentine’s Day isn’t a government holiday, businesses have successfully made it universally popular. This commercial celebration persuades many into buying a dozen roses and heart-shaped chocolates that only build up fake affection toward one another.

Money cannot buy affection, and Valentine’s Day only serves to create a superficial bond that wilts faster than the clearance Publix bouquet a panicked husband grabbed on the way home from work.

But are these festivities really necessary? Couples already share a vast amount of time going on dates and buying each other gifts throughout the year– or, at least, they should be.

Love does not need to be reduced to one day of cheap gifts. Love should be celebrated all year round, and having the reddest roses or the most expensive necklace does not validate a couple’s love.

Everyday acts of kindness and compliments can be enough to show someone’s love. Not only do these mean more than cheesy gifts, but they are subtle, making the holiday easier to handle for single people like me.