Valentine’s Day is here, and with it–as with many holidays–people are overwhelmed by the pressure. In this case, the pressure to pair-up.

Some of us are happily coupled, and yay for that, but for far too many of us this is a holiday seemingly designed to make single people feel miserable.

Which is utter bullshit, of course, but it’s often very hard to ignore the marketing campaigns all over creation, along with the societal expectations–i.e., people are supposed to be part of a couple or something is not quite right.

On that note, I love this post by Crazy Aunt Purl, one of my favorite bloggers. Here are a couple of snippets of it for your reading pleasure:

Happiness is an inside job. How can any other human being ever look inside your heart and see what will make you happy? Especially when most of us don’t even know ourselves? I love the idea of lifting yourself up to possibility. I am hopeful, I am optimistic, and I think pure hope can dash fear. I think life is wide and we are small.

There are so many roads to personal fulfillment, even ones I never expected. I’m happy for all of us, those who fit the bill and those of us who wandered a bit. We create a new happy each day, each in our own way.

To everyone out there, single or paired up, may your life be joyful. Find your happy and hold on to it!