Personal Tagline – Sensible Mystic Musings

Valentine’s Day is known by many to be one of those “Hallmark Holidays…”  – a holiday invented by the greeting card industry to generate revenue.  However, Valentine’s Day is celebrated in many countries with history that dates back centuries.  While Americans tend to associate happy_valentine_snoopyValentine’s Day with romantic love, some European cultures think of February 14 as the beginning of the spring renewal, giving life to the roots and starting the annual growing season.  I like that.

Geoffrey Chaucer is thought to have provided the first connection between Valentine’s Day and romantic love when in 1382 he wrote, “For this was on St. Valentines Day, when every bird cometh there to choose his mate.”  (He wrote the poem “Parlement of Foules” to celebrate the engagement of King Richard II of England to Anne of Bohemia.)  There is no record of Valentine’s Day being a romantic holiday until after Chaucer.

Using February 14th as a day of renewal is a great idea – working in the twist that Cupid delivers as you go.  So here are five ideas to make this Valentine’s Day better for you and your significant other.

  1. Don’t give a single card on Valentine’s Day itself, but instead get a series of cards, one a day, for the days leading up to Valentine’s Day.  Leave them out or put them in the mail, one each day.
  2. While candy is traditional, stay away from it in most cases.  Flowers,
    on the other hand, can be a great representation of your love for your mate.
  3. Plan a weekend trip (or a day trip) to get away from it all on Valentine’s Day.  An overnight – even only one night – helps separate both of you from the rest of the known world, and this disconnect can be romantic as well as renewing.
  4. Plant a seedling tree on Valentine’s Day.  This tree will last longer than you two, but will remain there as a reminder of your everlasting love for one another.
  5. For an inexpensive but wonderful evening, sit down with your significant other and dig out the old photos, starting before your wedding.  Reminisce about that time when you first fell in love, how you thought you would never love each other more than you did back then…and realize that you love each other even more today.

Valentine’s Day – a time for love, renewal, rekindling and letting go.  Try it, and let us know how it goes.

 

House Spouse Kevin

Have some great plans for Valentine’s Day?  Share what you think in the Leave a Reply  section below!