Mark your calendars for Galentine's Day on February 13 and celebrate the friendships that make your life special. Friendship is a love that’s as important as romantic love!
We have a 2010 episode of Amy Poehler's Parks and Recreation to thank for Galentine's Day.
Her character Leslie debuted the holiday to celebrate her female friends on Feb. 13. Leslie showers her friends with gifts and written notes on why she loves them so much. They drink mimosas, eat breakfast and share expressions of love and friendship.
Celebrate your friends! Everyone needs a little boost now and then, to reinforce the feeling of being significant enough to have someone show how much they care. Create a Galentine's Day event that lets you bask in each other's light, even if this year's celebration has to take place long distance.
Here’s to girlfriends, we need you through thick and thin! Research into social behaviour reinforces the fact that strong friendships provide a sense of belonging and purpose, improve our self-confidence, lower stress and help us cope with trauma and life challenges. There are physical benefits too: a strong social network helps to reduce the risk of high blood pressure, decrease depression and helps us live longer lives. The quality of your relationships matters more than how many people you've got in your contact list.
The joy of great friends is that they actually want to know the truth of how you feel, and are there to hold the space for you to cry it out. I have friends that I can call and ask how are you - really wanting to know, and they can burst into tears. I have friends that call me and ask that question and I can burst into tears. Sometimes, the right person at the right moment releases all that you have been hiding: the fear, the worry, the loneliness. This will be followed by laughter, by creative problem solving, or by a cuppa as my British friends will say!
Galentine's Day brings back the sentiment of Valentine's Day historically, when it was a general celebration of love and friendship. By the middle of the 18th century, it was common for friends and lovers of all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes on Valentine's Day. Now, we have two days to anticipate and celebrate with friends and loved ones of all kinds!
Don’t know what gifts to get your girlfriends? I’ve got you covered. Explore my journals, and get one for each of you! Then, you can go to your favourite cafe, and share in the fun of journaling, supporting each other along the way! They are available on Amazon.
XO
Celia
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