Don’t look now, but this week’s issue of Pique falls on a somewhat polarizing date: Valentine’s Day.
Perhaps that’s fitting. Afterall, Whistler, it is often said, is for lovers—and the proof is everywhere you look.
It’s in the steamy hotel hot tubs, the luxurious spas and salons; it grinds on the sweaty club dancefloors; whispers sweet nothings across every swanky dinner table candlelit for two.
Love traces every gondola line, every lift; floats in the crisp alpine air down through the valley, originating on and emanating from the highest peaks themselves—and how many have pledged their eternal, undying love on local mountaintops?
Too many to count.
Depending on your current relationship status, the above intro may have filled you with heart-fluttering whimsy, or stomach-curdling nausea—the eternal yin and yang of mid-February emotional states.
But then, depending on when you pick up this week’s issue, you might be celebrating a different occasion.
Where Feb. 14 marks Valentine’s Day, Feb. 15 denotes the unofficial holiday celebrated by single people: Singles Awareness Day.
It’s a delightfully amusing concept (maybe because the acronym is literally SAD?), but being unofficial, there isn’t much literature out there on Singles Awareness Day. According to Wikipedia, its origins stem from the early 2000s in a U.S. high school, where one particularly SAD fellow started the day as a sort of protest against Valentine’s Day.
The rest, as they say, is history.
But February’s daily madness doesn’t end there. Not content with just one day to sell cards, the sadists at Hallmark (presumably) are now pushing an entire week of love-themed days leading up to the big day Feb. 14: Rose Day, Propose Day, Chocolate Day, Teddy Day, Promise Day, Hug Day, and Kiss Day (here comes that nausea again).
But of course, if you’re reading this issue on Monday, Feb. 17—Family Day—you’re probably thinking more about familial connectedness than romantic flings.
Nonsense, all of it. We shouldn’t need special days on the calendar to show our fondness for those we love—and we shouldn’t need formal relationships to express love in general.
In these times of division and confusion, a little goes a long way. So whether you’re head-over-heels this Valentine’s Day, commiserating with all your SADdest friends, or spending a long weekend with your family, here are just a few ways to spread the love near and far in Whistler.
WALK THE WALK
At the Whistler Community Services Society’s (WCSS) third-annual Nightwalk for Hope last month, the non-profit raised $45,000 for its outreach services.
Not a bad haul, but far from enough to meet Whistler’s ever-growing need.
In 2024, WCSS staff had more than 10,000 interactions with community members, mostly due to mental-health challenges or financial insecurity—an increase of 20 per cent over 2023.
Make no mistake, WCSS’ services are vital to this community, and there’s no better way to spread the love than donating some cold hard cash at mywcss.org.
MAKE IT UNCONDITIONAL
On that note, there are plenty of other local charities that would be eternally grateful for your donation or your time (you can find a handy list at whistlerfoundation.com/work/non-profit-network/volunteer-in-whistler).
But Whistler Animals Galore is the place to go if you’re looking to make your love unconditional this February.
At any given time, there are hundreds of thousands of pets in Canada that need a home, and if you’re fed up with the fickle reality of modern dating, let me tell you: there is no love more pure and unconditional than that of a pup (cats are OK too, I guess).
LOOK INWARD
At the risk of veering too far into the territory of hippy-dippy pseudo-self-help bullshit, have you spent any time with you lately?
Just 20 minutes a day of mindful meditation—zazen, in the Zen Buddhist tradition—can do wonders for your mind, heart, and entire state of existence in a chaotic, seemingly random world.
It sounds simple, but studies have shown many of us would rather be in physical pain than be left alone with our thoughts for even a few minutes.
Researchers at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville tested the theory in 2014, leaving participants alone in a lab for 15 minutes at a time, giving them a button to shock themselves if they so wished.
Even though all participants had previously stated they would pay money to avoid being shocked, 67 per cent of men and 25 per cent of women chose to inflict it on themselves rather than just sit there quietly and think.
The research team suggested meditation could be helpful in steering the brain to more pleasant and productive avenues.
Try it before you scoff—you might just learn something about yourself.
TREAT YO SELF
But if you’re more the self-indulgent, instant-gratification type, Whistler of course has you covered there, too.
Call in sick and go up the mountain. Get a massage. Treat yourself to a spa day. Eat that extra piece of cake. Take someone you care about out to a nice (insert made-up special day here) dinner.
Do something nice for yourself; for a friend; for your community.
Our big dumb reality won’t magically morph into a utopia in the meantime.
But we can make it better, one act of love and kindness at a time.
So make every day count.
