Galentine's Day 2016

Galentine's Day is February 13th. Made popular (and debatably invented) by Parks and Recreation, this holiday celebrates the non-romantic love in your life. That's why I'd argue that Galentine's Day is more important than Valentine's Day. In a society where romantic love is often held at a higher level of importance than the equally essential plutonic love, it can be hard to find time to thank your friends for all that they do for you. That's why I celebrate Galentine's Day by getting together with my friends to let them know how much they mean to me.

If it weren't for the friends in my life (specifically this beautiful young woman), I have no idea where I would be today. They are there for me through happiness and sadness and are always there to support me, even when I don't feel deserving of support. Their presence in my life makes me feel so rich and lucky. As important as my romantic love is to me, it's only a portion of the large amount of love I receive on a daily basis.

Like many other young women in this male-dominated society, I was raised to believe that girls were my competition and even my enemy. I was told that boys made better friends because they "wouldn't stab you in the back or cause unnecessary drama"... Though I would argue that skimming through any history book would prove that comment complete nonsense. It wasn't until I was in high school that I realized the importance of female friendships. Since then, I've made sure to surround myself with equally amazing young women who serve to lift me up and make me work hard to be the best me I can be. I'm so glad to see female friendships represented positively on TV and in movies. These representations show friends as equal to romantic relationships, and not just something that takes their place when you're single.

I've had this shirt for at least six months now, and Galentine's Weekend is the perfect excuse to wear it! Plus, I was able to match my lipstick to the lip pattern, which I thought was pretty cool.