My boyfriend is very sweet, and 95% of the time, he is the perfect boyfriend. However, for most of our relationship, I have berated how commercialized and stupid Valentine\u2019s Day is and have convinced him that I don\u2019t want to do anything to celebrate. But now I fear that the romance between us is dying. As I have watched all the happy couples around me enjoy Instagrammable trends and fall for couple-themed marketing ploys, I have begun to rethink my convictions. Should I cave to the cliches?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Help!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Woeful Woman<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The REAL Dr. Love is back in the house. Time for the professional to take over and show y\u2019all how it\u2019s done \u2026 although I must admit last week\u2019s article was rather good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Staying on your guard against all things cutesy and Instagrammable is understandable in the sense that you don\u2019t want to fall prey to the secular trends. I think it\u2019s ridiculous that the second the Christmas trees are packed away, Targets and Hallmarks whip out the giant teddy bears and chocolate boxes. Companies make Valentine\u2019s Day all about commodities instead of the love that should be the focus. Some people, like Dwight from The Office, truly embrace the effects of this mentality and dream about selling fancy dinner reservations to the desperate. I fear that\u2019s an example of exactly what you despise. There\u2019s something so empty about a moment filmed just to put on Instagram.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Behind every successful relationship lies a great secret that many try to ignore: It\u2019s all about compromise. There are so many ways to show love on a day like Valentine\u2019s Day that don\u2019t fall into the commercial craze. If you shoot down every single thing he does as a clich\u00e9 and don\u2019t tell him what you want instead, it\u2019s easy for you both to get frustrated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s about you two! Maybe your Valentine\u2019s Day looks like a day at the trampoline park or a quiet dinner made at home with jazz playing in the background. It doesn\u2019t necessarily have to be a movie or an expensive dinner out, and it doesn\u2019t need to involve heart-shaped chocolates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your convictions aren\u2019t unfounded, but just because something is clich\u00e9 doesn\u2019t always make it a bad thing. You don\u2019t have to put it on Instagram. You could have a photo album just for you two do and be able to laugh about it later with him. Even better, come up with new traditions together that no one else does. It\u2019s special, important to the people that matter and creates fun experiences that you wouldn\u2019t otherwise have. Fill up a jar with ideas and pick one on an occasion like Valentine\u2019s Day. That way, things stay fun and fresh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
May romance always stay in the air for you,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr. Love<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Love M.D.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My boyfriend is very sweet, and 95% of the time, he is the perfect boyfriend. However, for most of our relationship, I have berated how commercialized and stupid Valentine\u2019s Day is and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[214],"tags":[16,47],"class_list":["post-1322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-doctor-love","tag-editorial-perspectives","tag-issue-2026-02-20"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Ian Schartner","author_link":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/author\/schartnerij23\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"My boyfriend is very sweet, and 95% of the time, he is the perfect boyfriend. However, for most of our relationship, I have berated how commercialized and stupid Valentine\u2019s Day is and","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1322"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1322\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2622,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1322\/revisions\/2622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}