Singles Day: Why it’s OK to be alone and how it’s related to 11/11

Singles Day is held every Nov. 11, and while it may bring sadness for some, for others it is a cause for celebration. 

According to psychologist and love expert Dr. Anna Tuazon, being single should not be seen as detrimental to having a fulfilled life. On the contrary, being single allowed people to explore more opportunities, she said.

In a GMA Digital video report titled “Why It’s Okay to be Single,” Dr. Tuazon pointed out the reasons: 

Total control of what you do. You have total control when making decisions, said the psychologist. “Kung ano ’yung mga hobbies at interests mo, pwedeng pwede mo pagtuunan ng panahon,” she said. 

Being single in fact doesn’t mean alone. “It doesn’t mean you’re not dating,” said Dr. Anna. “Being single means you can socialize with whoever you want, whenever you want.” 

“Hindi lahat ng single, walang love life.” The psychologist said sometimes the single person had the more “exciting, interesting kind of love life” because they could get to know more people.

Financial freedom. Dr. Anna said single people could buy or save up for whatever they wanted, like their own homes, which they could plan to their own liking.

Single life is a rare opportunity. Single people could afford to prioritize themselves, said the doctor. Whether one is single by choice or not, it’s a time for them to get to know themselves, she added. “It’s not a waste of time; it’s a really rich and ripe opportunity,” she said. 

In the Philippines, more than 34 million people are single, 18.8 million of which are men and 15.9 million are women, according to the latest tally of the Philippine Statistics Authority.

A Social Weather Stations survey in 2018, meanwhile, said 59% of Filipinos chose career over love.

According to a Forbes Magazine report, Singles Day was initiated by students from Nanjing University in China in 1993 to celebrate their singlehood.

They chose to commemorate this day on Nov. 11 or 11/11, because of the number 1 which resembled a solitary stick.  

The rising number of single people has become a trend not only in the Philippines but also all over the world, said the GMA Digital video report.

According to a study by Pew Research Center in the United States in August, 4 out of 10 millennials are single or live alone, while 5 out of 10 are not married.

This number is far from figures from the previous generation, which showed only 3 out of 10 Gen X and Boomers had no families of their own. 

So is Singles Day related to the 11/11 sales happening all over the world? According to a CNN report, Nov. 11 is pegged in China as an “informal, anti-Valentine’s Day holiday.”

To all singles, splurge away! – RC, GMA News