NOVEMBER 11 MARKS SINGLES’ DAY, A DAY TO CELEBRATE YOU
We all know about Valentine’s Day, a day for couples to show how much they care for each other. But what about all the singles out there? Surely, they deserve a day of pampering and celebration … Finally, there is a day to celebrate people that are not in a relationship. Enter “Singles’ Day.”
Singles’ Day is also known as ‘bare sticks holiday’ because the date represents one, one, one, one and it can also be understood as an ‘anti-Valentine’s Day’ or ‘Bachelor’s Day’. Today, there are increasing number of people choosing to live their lives without feeling the need to ‘couple-up’. For some people, they feel the pressure to be in a relationship, the feel socially hassled to marry (or re-marry) and Singles’ Day allows these individuals to celebrate being on their own – living their lives their way.
History of Singles’ Day
Singles’ Day started in 1993 at China’s Nanjing University as a day for students (mostly men) to celebrate their singledom. The date 11th day of the 11th month was selected as it resembles four solitary bare sticks (11⁄11).
But since that time Singles’ Day has grown in China, and globally, to become a day where singles spoil themselves with a little retail therapy. According to Wikipedia, on Single Day in 2017 Alibaba set the world record for the most payment transaction during the festival and year on year, Singles’ Day is retail therapy is increasing.
Relationship status and studies
Too many individuals feel the pressure to partner up. Recently, actress, Emma Watson, described her relationship status as ‘self-partnered’ in an interview. The relationship status of ‘uncoupled’ is also on the rise among other unique ways of saying ‘I’m not in a relationship’.
Many studies around relationship status and happiness (including citations by Eric Klinenberg in the book ‘Going Solo’) highlight that single women are overall happier than single men and married women. Other findings include women do better than men when living alone and women also savor their solitude more than men (1)
Celebrating You
While you don’t have to buy into the consumerism often associated with single’s Day overseas, you can still stand tall and be confident. Have confidence in your ability to financially support yourself, confident that you don’t need someone else to complete you, confident in your independence and confident in the decisions that you are making.
Regardless of your gender or relationship status, take a moment this Singles’ Day to reflect upon where you are, where you want to be, how far you have come and who/what are you grateful for. Be proud of the person that you are and make a plan to live your best and happiest life.
Better still, instead of just celebrating you on Singles’ Day, it could be nice for you to reach out to a fellow single person and celebrate with them! Let them know what you find special about them and what they mean to you. Share the love of singleness because it is a pretty great place to be.
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