As the world gets excited for Valentines day, big companies have devised clever ways to expand their profits by assigning all the days in the preceding week with different expressions and significance. Love is a powerful emotion and the Valentine's week is a pure depiction of this. People all over the world come express their love for their partners unabashedly and shower them with gifts and other favourite eateries.
The mini celebration days are as follows:
Rose Day
Propose Day
Chocolate Day
Teddy Day
Promise Day
Hug Day
Kiss Day
Valentine’s Day
Two days before Valentines day is Hug Day. The significance of Hug Day is apparent in its name. Couples are supposed to share at least one embrace on this day. Hug Day is the sixth day of valentines week and falls on 12th February this year.
However a hug is a natural expression of affection and for many it can be both casual or intimate depending on the person you share it with. A hug can mean a lot and amongst the commercialised celebrations that involve buying something, this one that celebrates something natural is rather sweet. A long hug can stimulate the release of oxytocin in the brain. Oxytocin is a neurotransmitter that promotes bonding and a hug can truly bring you closer together.
It should be noted though that most of the valentine week celebrations are centred around a modern western perception of love. People in other cultures might believe in expressing love differently and some more conservative cultures might find a hug too intimate an embrace too early in a relationship and might even strongly disapprove of it in public. Be conscious of what opinion society holds of hugs if you're meeting your special someone in a public place but most importantly be aware if your special someone is comfortable with a hug. People have different personal space boundaries and you must ask them beforehand what counts as too much for them. Even if they agree, you should be conscious of their body language. If you feel they're stiff and uncomfortable don't stretch the hug too long.
Most of these days seem to celebrate the commercialisation of a pure emotion by obliging one to conform to a series of gifts or rituals which, depending on where one is in their relationship, might make them feel awkwardly obliged. However, for those unsure of what to do in a relationship or stupid enough to need a guideline to love, this can be a handy checklist. It's probably best for those in new relationships whose brains are suffering from a shortage of serotonin and therefore their reasoning is impaired.