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Easy as 1,2,3 (4,5!)

Your 5 step guide to getting through Valentine's Day

By BridgetPublished 3 years ago 5 min read
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Easy as 1,2,3 (4,5!)

Although designed as a day to celebrate relationships for those lucky enough to struck by Cupid’s arrow, the international day of love can just as easily make you feel ashamed or embarrassed to be alone. Overtime we’ve bought into the idea that Valentine's Day is a day about love for others and others love for us, rather than an overall celebration of just love.

But, match making cherub or not, Valentine's Day doesn’t need to be a sad, ostracising day for those doing it alone. With the help of a few musical friends, the below playlist is your 5 step guide that can take you from feeling down in the dumps to overflowing with l-o-v-e. And it’s easy as 1,2,3 (4,5!).

Step 1 - Put Your Records On

“Girl, put your records on, tell me your favorite song

You go ahead, let your hair down”

Music is the chicken soup for the soul, escapism for the troubled mind and a pick me up for those down in the dumps. Music is scientifically proven to be release dopamine in your brain, a chemical that enhances your mood, reduces your anxiety and induces happiness, joy and motivation. There is no quicker mood lifter than a good song; one that makes you want to tap your foot at work, skip your legs on your walk or twirl your body around your room. Corinne Bailey Rae’s ‘Put Your Records On’ is an instant mood booster and one with a stark reminder, that everything’s going to be alright. It's also the perfect start to worming your way out of your February 14th funk.

“Just go ahead, let your hair down

You're gonna find yourself somewhere, somehow.”

Step 2 - Remind yourself you’re Good as Hell

“Come now, come dry your eyes

You know you a star, you can touch the sky”

Everyone should have this on their playlist. Everyone. Cheesy and overly peppy, this song will get on your nerves, and make them move. A pep talk in musical form, this song is so blatantly positive you can’t help but let it boost your self esteem. Where music releases dopamine into the brain, ‘Good as Hell’ induces confidence. This empowering, feel-good anthem believes in yourself even when you don’t. It’s a song that will make you straighten your back, tilt your chin up, toss your hair and check your nails. On a day that can make you doubt your self worth, this song shoves you in front of the mirror forces you to make a positive reassessment. Don’t have a date on Valentines' Day? You don’t need one - you’re good as hell!

“Woo child, tired of the bullshit!

Go on dust your shoulders off, keep it moving”

Step 3 - Start Feeling good

“It's a new dawn

It's a new day

It's a new life for me

And I'm feeling good”

By now you should be feeling your mood lifting, even if you are spending February 14th without someone to give you red roses and a cheesy card with an overused pun on the front. But, just because you don’t have a significant other by your side, doesn’t mean you’re alone. If Corinne and Lizzo’s company wasn’t enough to draw you out from the blanket you’d crawled under, let me introduce you to Ms Simone. Nina is here to make sure you’re feeling good. I mean is there a better pick me up then when Nina gives us the a capella, goosebump inducing “feeeellllinnng good” in the final line of the opening verse of this timeless classic? Or the trombone beats that follow, that course through the blood in your veins and set your soul alight?

Feeling Good’ evokes euphoria. It calls out the non conformist, sassy and powerful side to your soul. An anthem of freedom and liberation, it stirs the rebel spirit within you to life and simultaneously flips Valentine's Day the bird. Take that February 14th.

“Sleep in peace when day is done, that's what I mean

And this old world is a new world

And a bold world, for me”

Step 4 - Don’t stop now!

“Tonight I'm gonna have myself a real good time

I feel alive

And the world I'll turn it inside out, yeah”

Now you’ve got it! If the lyrical rousings of Corinne, Lizzo and Nina got you out of your head and onto your feet, Queen’s ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ is going to throw you around your room, with each out of tune note you belt out and awkward step you place as you dance around, a sign of you conquering your February 14th slump.

Queen will have you feeling unstoppable in no time, as you begin to strut your way through the day with a beat that will keep you fist pumping for hours. If Valentine's Day was a day you once dreaded, consider it conquered. No longer can you feel insecure when you’ve got Freddie Mercury chanting positive affirmations in your ear - his positivity and unrelenting passion for a good time is simply too contagious. There’s no holding you back now.

“Yes, I'm havin' a good time

I don't want to stop at all”

Step 5 - Above all, single or not, remember you are forever and always, a Dancing Queen.

“Ooh, see that girl

Watch that scene

Digging the dancing queen”

Coming off the back of Queen you need, simply put, an absolute banger, to not only keep you on your musical high but project you and your mood into the sky. A serotonin booster and dance floor anthem that has transcended time and car stereo’s, ABBA’s ‘Dancing Queen’ is a song that will live forever. There are very few people who don’t instantly recognise the opening beats of one of the most well known and infectious tunes this world has ever seen. When that keyboard begins, after merely a few seconds in, you know, no matter where you are, you’re about to smile. It’s a song thats jubilant dance rhythm will stir up a need to jive and make you shake away any pains of the day.

It’s also the final ingredient needed in a 5 step plan to not only get through, but love, a day that once left you crawling under the sheets and counting down the seconds til it was over.

Now, a day once notorious for ostracising those alone, can be a day about a new love; a self love. This year, get rid of the tacky cards and roses you’ll throw out in a week and make the day about you. Start blasting your Easy as 1,2,3 (4,5) playlist and - with Corinne, Lizzo, Nina, Queen and Abba by your side - you’ll never have a Valentine's alone again.

“You can dance

You can jive

Having the time of your life”

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About the Creator

Bridget

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