Roses are red, violets are blue, please shut your mouth before bile reaches my lips…

Valentine’s Day has long been scorned by those without love in their lives. It’s even been known by some as “Singles’ Awareness Day.” (Well, that’s what I called it.) In reality, it’s just another glorified, commercialized saint’s day. For those with romantic love in their lives, congratulations. Everyone should be loved in such a manner at one point or another. For those without this coveted intangible, fear not! I speak from experience when I say even someone as bitter as this here ice queen can be discovered and loved for who she is. I’m not even going to attempt to deceive you–on the surface, this article is all about me and my emotional evolution from nauseatingly melodramatic cynic to somewhat-tolerable-existentialist-angst-ridden young woman. As I reveal the differences in my perception of life, I’m hoping you can cut through the syrup and sap I’m about to relay, and see what lies beneath. I’m hoping, that just maybe, my experience resonates with one of you, and reminds you that there is so much more to the nature of romance than who you’re courting within the confines of a fine educational priso-er–establishment. Here are some thoughts from a recovering cynic.

Dani Price the cynic. Dani Price the pessimist. “Gloomskivich.” “Dani Darko.” The list of nicknames goes on and on. Some have been used affectionately, while others less so. Let’s just say I was wearing perpetual “gray glasses.” I’m not exactly a ray of sunshine today, but my way of thinking around this time last year greatly differs from the way it is now. The way in which I perceived life was so twisted, that I couldn’t find joy in anything–books, games, movies, exercise–nothing. This time last year, I was brooding as I usually did. “Another ‘Singles’ Awareness Day.’ Yippee.” Around February, so many of us focus on what we don’t possess, forgetting what we do. You can thank American media for that. Valentine’s Day has become the quintessential excuse for lovers to be self-indulgent, and the media monster sure knows how to make you feel you’re missing out on something swell. I’d be a hypocrite if I said I wasn’t going to partake in all of the sappiness this month, but last year’s outlook was a mite different. Everywhere I went, I resisted the urge to vomit. A couple intertwined in broad daylight? Bile-inducing. A stuffed frog that sings “Love Me Tender?” Sickening. A box of chocolates given to a lover? Revolting and cliché. Perhaps you can see where I got some of my endearing aliases. As I look back, it genuinely surprises me how much my friends dealt with this “Negative Nelly.” In reaction to all of these sights, I did what I always do: channel every feasible emotion I was feeling at the time into anger. As a result, I would walk around with my own personal storm cloud that even boxing sessions–where I was actually permitted to hit things–couldn’t blow away.

“Besides,” I thought, “how could a guy like a gal like me?” Here is where I doubted my credibility as a potential mate based on my lack of “normal” qualities. As I look back on this self-pitying person, I realize how sad this truly was. For someone who takes pride in her eccentricities and delights in others’, this thought was sacrilege. I don’t like fashion. I love heavy metal and classical music. I adore videogames and work at a GameStop. I refuse to style my hair like the newest pop queen. I read books for fun. I like boxing. God help me, I’m an actor. Let me just say this: there is someone out there for everyone. How many times have you choked on that pearl of wisdom? However, trust this ex-disgruntled youth when she says it’s true. I met my beau when I least expected it, and am still surprised that he finds me remotely attractive. There are days when I stop dead in my tracks. He loves me? It’s so surreal that I should be granted something so precious. I found someone who enjoys my quirks. I found someone who loves my knowledge of computers. I found someone who tolerates my philosophical rants. I found someone who both likes and loves me, and I can say the same for him with one-hundred percent certainty. Now I’m not saying a sweetheart cures all that ails you. No way. In addition to my significant other, the reason I can “see clearly” today is thanks to love from friends, family, and my dog. (Yes, pets count.)

Don’t go looking for love. Just keep doing what you enjoy, staying true to what you like, and the right person will find you. The more you look, the more likely it is you’ll be content to settle, and that’s a sure-fire guarantee that you’ll end up with someone wrong for you. The point of this rant wasn’t to proclaim my love from the mountaintops for all to hear, as awesome as that sounds. The point was to help shed some light on a nebulous subject. Romantic love is something that will happen when you’re ready–conscious or not.