The world is inundated with pink and red, hearts and roses right now – but you don’t need someone to give you jewelry to rock out all by yourself! Why not take Valentine’s Day to give a big eff-you to whatever pressure you might feel to couple up, and instead celebrate your perfectly-single self? Because you are ENOUGH exactly the way you are, and you don’t need to have a boo to tell you so.
Indulge exactly the way YOU want to!
Listen to your heart and body, block out the noise, and figure out what YOU actually feel like doing.
If you want to dress up and go out on the town, why not do it yourself, or gather your friends? Sit at the bar, flirt madly with the bartender, enjoy the power that singleness brings you… and possibly the free drinks sent your way! Or better still, send a drink someone else’s way, and remember to tip your bartender well – yet another way to celebrate your generous, powerful, abundant self.
Alternatively, do you want to escape the outside world? Feel like huddling in your pajamas, and Netflix-And-Leave-Me-The-Hell-Alone-ing instead? We’re absolutely with you. Turn off your phone, gather your fave comfort snacks, and snuggle down in your blankets with an old streaming standby, or the latest episode of The Last Of Us. Because whatever you’re feeling, at least we’re not stuck in a fungal zombie apocalypse…. yet.
And if you have the impulse to drop some cash, why not treat yourself to the Valentine gifts you want to have – no awkwardly-dropped hints, risk of miscommunication, or disappointment necessary! Treat yourself to a new vibrator, a spa day, or even some new bling. Celebrate your financial independence, and the fact that you don’t need to ask nobody for permission to spend your hard-earned money.
Self-Care
If you’d rather go the route of self-care than indulgence, or want to avoid spending anything, you can still carve out time and attention to pamper yourself. Draw yourself a bath, diffuse some essential oils, and just…. breathe. Block out distractions, and give yourself permission to drop into yourself, and not worry about anyone else for a while.
If your life is full of other people’s needs, try to do this even for just 10 minutes – retreat to a car, the closet, or the bathroom, or step outside, and try meditating. Choose a mantra that resonates with you – “I am enough” is a good one. “I love, I am loved” is another one to try. You matter, and you deserve the time to acknowledge – and meet – your own needs.
Exercise
Always a good way to celebrate being alive, especially if you’re feeling low – this can be as simple as taking a walk around the block, or as intense as trying a pole-dance class for the first time. Whatever your jam, get your body moving! It’s a great way to appreciate the skin you’re in, practice gratitude for your brilliant beautiful body, and get some endorphins rushing through your bloodstream.
Write Yourself A Love Letter
We spend so much time criticizing ourselves, and telling ourselves how we’re not measuring up – why not take the time to write yourself a long-overdue love letter, instead? Be as generous, kind, and celebratory as you can – Congratulate yourself on your successes, and acknowledge how you’ve overcome challenges. List your best features – your kindness or your compassion, maybe? Your smarts? How hard you’ve worked, despite everything? Your persistence? Your endurance? How good you’ve been to a loved one? Or even if it’s just your SURVIVAL in hard times – lavish praise upon yourself, because you absolutely do deserve it. Then put it in a safe place, where you can re-read it whenever you need a pick-me up… OR stash it away for next year, when you can read it, and then write another one. Maybe it can become a self-love Valentine’s tradition, independent of anyone else in your life.
Friends and Family
There are so many kinds of love out there in the world – remind yourself of them! Make a friend date, go cook dinner for a family member, snuggle with your fur-baby at home. Remember that most of these relationships will, statistically-speaking, outlast a romantic entanglement. They deserve celebrating, too!
And if you’re in a place where you’re working on boundaries – remember, you can love from a distance. Healthy boundaries are a form of self-love, and are, ultimately, also kinder to the other people involved. Raise a glass from afar, and congratulate yourself on your safety and continued self-care.
Acts of Service
One way to ground oneself – and feel really good! – is to help others. Whatever pulls on your heartstrings, find a way to volunteer for the cause. Sign up at a local food bank, or animal shelter – give out care packages to your local unhoused population. Go read aloud at a senior center. It’s a great way to get perspective, and connect with like-minded, compassionate individuals, too.
Just make sure to not empty your own emotional tank accidentally – the healthier and more grounded you are, the more you can help in the long term.
Self-Love and Masturbation
You don’t need anyone else’s help to enjoy your own sexuality and sensuality. Here at ForPlay Films we celebrate masturbation, the power of toys, and the use of porn and erotic storytelling to transport women (and everyone!) to erotic heights.
If you aren’t used to masturbating, or want to explore something new, why not try a guided tantric meditation? Our video release “Mindful Pleasure” is all about mindfulness, self-acceptance, and a holistic approach to self-love. Starting with your emotions, and your sense of self worth, before drifting into an exploration of your own body, it’s a wonderful way to explore and deepen your relationship with yourself. Embodied by Daisy de la Montaña and narrated by our very own Inka Winter, we’re proud to offer holistic porn that aims to make you feel good, mentally, spiritually, as well as physically.
Ethical Porn, Anyone?
And finally, if you really want to invest in yourself – why not treat yourself to an ethical porn membership? Gift yourself a ForPlay Films membership, and also help support other women and femmes who are creating the artistic, sex-positive, and erotic content that you love.
Whatever you choose to do to celebrate yourself – be kind, embrace whatever feelings come up, breathe, and know that you are exactly enough, just the way you are. The fullness and complicated contradictions of you, the flaws and scars, the joys and delights – all of it. You deserve love, and care, and time, and you have the strength to give it to yourself.
Happy Valentine’s Day – let’s all make some more love in the world! Starting, first of all, with ourselves.