valentines day - Lynette M. Burrows

Do You Celebrate Valentine’s Day?

Happy Valentine’s Day 2020! It’s a day to celebrate romantic love or it passes in sorrow or passes as any other day or celebrating it is prohibited. Do you celebrate Valentine’s Day?

I have had years when I celebrated. Years when I hated the day. And years when I ignore the day. Don’t get me wrong, I am a romantic. Don’t believe me? See my post Fools Risk Magic.

There are millions who are romantic enough to celebrate Valentine’s Day in one fashion or another. Millions like W. H. Auden…

I’ll love you, dear, I’ll love you till China and Africa meet and the river jumps over the mountain and the salmon sing in the street.
W. H. Auden

Is that romantic or what?

Why Do We Celebrate?

Well, all you romantics know why you celebrate. But do you know what the historical roots of Valentine’s Day are? Guess what? There isn’t one answer.

Some believe we celebrate because of the Catholic saint, St. Valentine. But there were three St. Valentines. Read Who Was the Real St. Valentine?

The day could have its origins in the pagan fertility celebration, Lupercalia.

We think the English poet Geoffrey Chaucer recorded the first Valentine’s Day poem in 1375, “Parliament of Foules.” Did he start Valentine’s Day?

The Procrastinators

Today is Valentine’s Day – or, as men like to call it, Extortion Day!
Jay Leno

Some of us delay preparing for or celebrating Valentines Day. For some reason, Valentine’s Day brings out the procrastinator in more than 70 million who purchase their cards within six days of the holiday? Are you one of those? You might need some last-minute ideas. See my post Valentine’s Day Procrastinator’s Delight .

Not Everyone Celebrates Valentines Day

I’d kiss a frog even if there was no promise of a Prince Charming popping out of it. I love frogs. Cameron Diaz

Not everyone has found a romantic love. Some don’t care. Others care desperately. For them this is a difficult day. For them I wrote Your Valentine’s Day Survival Guide and the flash fiction, The Yellow Rose of Valentine’s Day.

Places like Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and India do not celebrate. In fact, in some of those countries there are severe punishments for those who do. Read more here.

Celebrate Your Way

What am I doing to celebrate? I’m taking my husband to the pulmonologist for a follow-up visit. Not as romantic as seeing his cardiologist… but that’s where we’ll be. Afterward, we’ll stop for some sweet treats. A nod to the day, but these days we express our love, celebrate our love every day.

Whether or not you celebrate, use this Valentine’s Day as an opportunity to remember to love yourself. No matter who you are, what your life circumstances are, you’ve been through a lot. You are here on this planet on this day. Celebrate you. Love yourself. Treat yourself with love and kindness. And have a very happy Valentine’s Day.

Heart Stories

February isn’t over yet and neither is my list of heart stories. This week we look at history, at a true love story, an organization dedicated to helping women make time for and feel the love, and some real heart stories reminding you to take care of your heart health.

HEART BALM RACKET

From the Smithsonian, we take a look at How the Heart Balm Racket Convinced America Women Were No Good.

What do you think? Was the Heart Balm Racket sensationalistic journalism or a real threat?

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT

A love at first sight story, also from the Smithsonian.

How do you like that Mr. Clemmons deliberately writing passages that his wife would react to?

FEEL THE LOVE

HeartStories is an organization whose mission is to help women hear Love louder than all the negative noise in your life. Read about them here. http://heartstories.com/about/ If you can’t or don’t want to join that organization, consider doing something for yourself. Make a goal to set aside time to slow down and feel the love around you.

REAL HEART STORIES

Do yourself a favor and read the Real Heart Stories from The Heart Foundation, then check out the rest of the Heart Foundation site. Make sure you don’t end up as one of those Real Heart Stories.

There are many more heart stories across the world. Make it one of your February goals to look for and feel the love around you. Then, let’s make that wonderful feeling viral. In the comments below, tell me how you feel the love today or how you plan to share the love.

Your Valentine’s Day Survival Guide

Expectations are so high for Valentine’s Day that there are bound to be disappointments. There are also people who are single. And there are people whose significant other is unable to make romantic gestures due to illness or career demands or even death. Perhaps you’re one of the people whose loved one tries but somehow fails to meet your expectations. No matter your situation, here’s your Valentine’s Day survival guide.

It’s almost impossible to escape the impending holiday in America. The hype around this day is on television, in movies, on the internet, displayed in store windows and aisles, even the elementary schools get involved. If you are someone whose day doesn’t include Hollywood-style romantic gestures or doesn’t include a significant other for any reason, the hype can lead to a day of depression and disappointment. Make a plan for your Valentine’s Day survival.

What Does it Mean?

Before we can treat the problem, we must identify the exact problem. Think for a moment. What does Valentine’s Day mean to you? Let me tell you what it doesn’t mean. It doesn’t mean that if you have a date, you’ve got a great romance. Or even that you’re happy. It doesn’t mean that if you don’t have a date you won’t ever have one. And it doesn’t mean you have to have chocolate or roses or anything in particular. It doesn’t even mean that you like yourself.

What do you really want? It’s not candy and flowers, is it? (If it is, go buy some.) Do you want a relationship like one in the movies? Buy a blow-up doll, you’ll have more luck. Or you can look up relationship guides and how to fix yourself articles on the internet. But that won’t help you get through the next few days. This is for you, your Valentine’s Day Survival Guide.

Your Choices

1. Ignore that it is Valentine’s Day. Follow your daily routine and never mention the words, or

2. Stay at home and watch a sappy movie and cry or get drunk, or

3. Give yourself all the treats you’d want to get on Valentine’s Day (spa day, chocolates, and roses anyone?), or

4. Suffer through the disaster your significant other thinks is romantic, OR

5.Do something different.

Your Valentine’s Day Survival Guide

1. Stop looking for reasons that you are unloveable. Find the love in your everyday life. Your mom sent you a valentine—that’s love. You took a hot bubble bath or made yourself a mug of your favorite tea—that’s love, too. Someone said, “have a nice day?” That’s courtesy but it’s also love of all mankind. Love is out there, but it’s not the big romantic gestures. It’s the small, everyday stuff that you tell yourself doesn’t matter. But it matters, a lot! Look for it, you’ll see.

2. Start loving yourself. Talk to yourself as if you’re someone you actually like. Treat yourself the way you would treat your best friend.

3. Don’t stay home alone crying in your beer. Buy champagne instead. You deserve it.

4. Get your blood pressure checked or do something good for your heart health.

5. Go to the range.

6. Watch a horror movie.

7. Volunteer at a local hospital or soup kitchen.

8. Schedule your mammogram or, for you fellas, your prostate exam.

9. Babysit your niece and nephew or neighbor kids. Play games and watch silly shows.

10. Celebrate what you love.

11. Try something new.

12. Take a day trip to a local tourist trap you’ve avoided for your whole life.

13. Take a walk somewhere you’ve never walked before.

14. Do something nice for someone else and don’t let them know.

See the Love

Before you go, take another look at the image above. What do you see? Do you see a broken heart? Look at it with new eyes. See the beautiful stained glass. Do you see the multiple colors, multiple shapes? Notice how all the pieces come together to make a whole. And the gold center? That’s you, loving yourself enough to create your Valentine’s Day survival guide.

So, don’t look at Valentine’s Day as a sign that you’re unloved or not loved enough. Make it a day to appreciate love in all its forms. Know what you want. Have a plan in case the romance doesn’t work out. Make your day wonderful and your week fantabulous no matter how you celebrate Valentine’s Day!

Have you experienced the love that’s out there? Share the small gesture that demonstrated someone cared below.

Have you had to ‘survive’ Valentine’s Day? Won’t you take a moment to share your Valentine’s Day survival guide or method?

Valentine’s Day: Procrastinator’s Delight

I thought I was the only one who found Valentine’s Day a procrastinator’s delight. There are 141 million Valentine’s Day cards exchanged each year, not including the boxes of cards school-age children exchange. More than 50% of those cards are bought in the six days immediately preceding Valentine’s Day? That’s a lot of procrastinators!

Are you a Valentine’s Day procrastinator desperately needing a gift idea for your sweetie? Have no fear, there are links below to suit anyone’s budget.

Want to know dazzle your sweetheart with more facts about Valentine’s Day? Go to History.com.

Try making your own card with one of the sweet love quotes Huffington Post found.

Looking for something different? Here are some ‘non-cheesy’ date ideas on Your Tango. A burlesque show? If any of you try that one, let me know how it works out.

Cosmopolitan has some great gift ideas for guys. It even tells you how much you should spend on a gift based on how long you’ve been dating. (What? Married folk don’t count?!)

Spare no expense, you say? Well then, CNN has a slideshow of wildly expensive gifts. Honey, if you’re reading this, I could really go for the 24-karat gold purse. (Just kidding!)

Someone out there will most likely get a diamond. I have my diamond ring thanks to my darling husband, but I do love sparkly rings. Maybe this Valentine’s Day I could have a . . . .

Power Ring!

Tell me, do you and your sweetie exchange Valentine’s Day gifts? What’s the best gift or card you’ve ever given or gotten? Did your love purchase it in advance or just a couple of days before the holiday?

Are you a planner (purchase your gifts or cards more than 6 days beforehand) or a procrastinator (purchase gifts and cards 6, or fewer, days ahead)? Is Valentine’s Day your procrastinator’s delight?