Showing posts with label Valentine's Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Valentine's Day. Show all posts

February 14 - Valentine's Day

Posted on February 14, 2021

This is an update of my post published on February 14, 2010:


Ever since the High Middle Ages, Valentine's Day has been associated with romantic love. Declarations of love traditionally include gifts of flowers, candy, and greeting cards, called Valentines.


Nowadays, many spread the greeting and gifting beyond romantic partners to parents, kids, relatives, and friends (plus many more).




Did you know...?

A "High Court of Love" was set up in Paris, France, on Valentine's Day of 1400. Here judges dealt with promises and betrayals of love and ruled on disagreements between couples! And - get this - the judges were chosen by women, based on how well they read poetry!

When postal rates were lowered in Victorian England, it became easy to mail Valentines rather than hand-deliver them. And that made it possible to send Valentines anonymously - without signing one's name - and THAT made it possible to be a bit racy in the verses on the Valentines!



The U.S. Greeting Card Association estimates that one billion Valentine cards are sent each year worldwide. I can't help wondering if that counts all the handmade ones?




Make Valentines for your friends!
Or make something even more special? For example, here's how to make a Valentine cootie catcher!




Heart Facts 

Valentine's Day is all about hearts, right? Well, this video helps you learn about the thing beating in your chest.








Heart Phrases


Match the numbered heart phrases with the lettered definitions:

1. lose heart
2. broken heart
3. lion-hearted
4. tender-hearted
5. cold hearted
6. know by heart
7. wear your heart on your sleeve
8. pour out your heart
9. heavy heart
10. heart throb
11. heart beat
12. heartburn
13. heart-to-heart talk
14. heart of things
15. have a heart
16. heart murmur

A. pain in chest because stomach acid is splashing up into esophagus
B. be merciful
C. sadness
D. tell everything on your mind
E. a private, trusting chat with someone
F. center
G. the rhythm made by your heart pumping blood
H. a gorgeous movie star or other celebrity
I. a slight sound made by your heart if your valve is leaky
J. brave
K. be honest and open
L. devastated in a romantic relationship
M. get discouraged
N. mean or unfeeling
O. kind and caring
P. have something memorized


ANSWERS: 1.M - 2.L - 3.J - 4.O - 5.N - 6.P - 7.K - 8.D - 9.C - 10.H - 11.G - 12.A - 13.E - 14.F - 15.B - 16.I



Also on this date:



Valentine's Day








(original post)






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February 13 - Lots of Love-Focused "Holidays"

Posted on February 13, 2020

There are several "holidays" today for the singular reason that it is the day before Valentine's Day. The focus of Valentine's Day is, of course, romantic love - and it can be a tricky day for people whether or not they have a romantic love relationship. 

For those who do have a spouse, partner, boyfriend / girlfriend, there can be such a lot of pressure, so many
expectations - and not just from the spouse / partner / crush / etc. All of society seems to expect extravagant displays of love, traditional gifts such as chocolates and flowers and jewelry, and so forth. Restaurants are jammed.

On a day when people are supposed to be doing fun and romantic things, a lot of people are stressed out and disappointed. Yikes!

On the other hand, those who are not involved in a romantic relationship can feel especially lonely and left out on Valentine's Day. 

So many people in and out of romantic relationships hate V. Day, I can't help wondering why it's as big a holiday as it is! Why don't people who hate it just ignore it? (The answers, I suspect, is pressure from society and fear of disappointing others.)



Perhaps the common "OMG, I hate Valentine's Day" attitude is why February 13 is Desperation Day, Galentine's Day, Madly in Love with ME Day, and National Self-Love Day.

Desperation Day is not all that cool - it supposedly deals with single people desperate to find a connection just in time for V. Day. 


Galentine's Day is much more fun - it's a day for women and girls to celebrate other women and girls.
 

The last two holidays are both about self-care, something we all need. Take it easy on the self-criticism, do things you enjoy, make healthy choices, pamper yourself. All of that is important whether or not you're part of a couple.




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February 14, 2012 - Valentine's Day




This day started out all about romantic love, but to some extent has spread to include friendship and love of family—think of all the school children exchanging funny Valentine cards, parents giving kids boxes of candy hearts (or heart headbands), and kids giving them huge paper hearts with mushy sentiments scrawled on them.


Now lots of sorta-kinda holidays have sprung up on this day to go along with Valentine's Day. One is International Quirkyalone Day, which encourages self-love along with all the other sorts of love. There is also Race Relations Day (let's all love each other), and National Donor Day (show your love through organ and blood donation) and even World Marriage Day. There are some days that encourage us to live heart-healthy lives and to study heart diseases – National Women's Heart Day, National Have a Heart Day, and World Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Day are all today.

Where and when did the heart symbol come from?

Various ancient cultures thought that the heart, rather than the brain, was the source of thought and emotion. The ancient Egyptians, for example, thought this. That is why, when ancient Egyptians took great care to preserve all that is important in the human body during the process of mummification, they put the liver, intestines, lungs, and stomach inside canopic jars; they left the heart inside the body so that it could be weighed in judgement; and the brain was pulled out through the nose and thrown away!


We aren't certain why the European heart symbol looks so different from a human heart. Some people have speculated that it was copied from the leaves of a silphium plant, or from the shape that swan necks make during their courtship ritual.

Sometimes, these days, the word heart and the heart symbol are used to mean “to like or love.” An example is, “I heart NY,” which is the same thing as saying, “I love New York.” The Oxford Dictionary says that this usage may be the only example in the English language in which a usage came to be through T-shirts and bumper stickers!

For more on Valentine's Day, check out this earlier post.


Also on this date:



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