Love is in the Air
Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone!
Though I know that Valentine’s Day isn’t exactly a happy holiday for everyone and that not everyone even believes that it’s a holiday, I still wanted to dedicate a post to the day. I want to start off with talking about the history of Valentine’s Day; though, no one is one hundred percent sure as to how it actually came about, there are still multiple stories and legends as to how it may have come about.
According to the History.com, one legend says that in the third century in Rome, when Emperor Claudius II was in power, he declared that marriage would be outlawed because he felt as if single men made better soldiers than ones that were married. The History.com goes on to say that a saint named Valentine felt that this was an injustice and continued to perform marriages for lovers in secret; however, when Claudius discovered what Valentine was doing, he was put to death. Another legend that the History.com talks about is that Valentine may have been killed because he was trying to help Christens escape harsh Roman prisons. According to another legend discussed in the article, Valentine had been imprisoned and sent the first “valentine” greeting to himself after he had fallen in love with a girl who visited him while he was imprisoned–it’s said that he wrote her a letter and signed it “From your Valentine.”
The History.com goes on to talk about how it’s most people’s understanding that Valentine’s Day was placed in the middle of February in order to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine’s dead or burial; however, there are also claims that the Christian church may have placed the St. Valentine’s feast day where they did in attempt to “Christianize” the pagan celebration of Lupercalia. The article goes on to explain that Lupercalia was a fertility festival which was dedicated to Faunus (the Roman god of agriculture) and Romulus and Remus (the Roman founders).
It wasn’t until the Middle Ages that Valentine’s Day became a day to celebrate love according to the History.com article. In France and England, February 14th was believed to be the start of birds’ matting seasons, which planted the seed for the idea that Valentine’s Day should be about romance. Written Valentines didn’t appear until after 1400 and the oldest known valentine was written in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans, written when he was imprisoned in the Tower of London after he was captured at the Battle of Agincourt. He sent this valentine to his wife.
There you have it, a bit of history about Valentine’s Day that you may or may not have been aware of. What are your thoughts on the holiday? Is it something you celebrate or is it just another day to you? Is there a specific legend written above, or another you may have heard elsewhere, that you believe marks the origins of Valentine’s Day?
For those who do celebrate Valentine’s Day, what gifts do you plan or have you given your significant other? Nothing?! What do you mean, “nothing”?! Oh dear, we’ll have to fix that! Below you will find some last minute gift ideas to give your sweetie:
- Write a Letter – Or an e-mail, whichever works really. I woke up to the sweetest instant messenger message this morning from my hubby and let me tell you, it made my day. So write your partner something special to remind them how much you love them.
- Candy – More specifically chocolate. Think about it, chocolate releases endorphins and endorphins make people, what? HAPPY! Put a smile on your significant other’s face with some yummy candy.
- Dinner – Treat your date to a nice, romantic dinner. Make sure to try to get reservations or preferred seating so you don’t have to wait in a stuffy waiting room full of people. If you want to skip the wait and don’t particularly feel like dealing with the crowds, make your significant other dinner. It’ll taste even better knowing you put love into your cooking.
- Mixed Tape – Ah, a classic; though, no a-days it’s actually a mixed CD. Make your sweetie a CD with romantic, mushy-gooshy songs you think your partner will enjoy.
- Movie – My personal favorite! Go out and buy or rent your lover’s favorite romantic movie or even a movie they’ve been looking forward to seeing. You could also take your date out to see a movie that they’ve been dying to see. The Vow for a more romantic movie and This Means War for a romantic comedy are two good options.
Hopefully these gift ideas will help those of you who haven’t gone shopping just yet. So, get on out there, what are you waiting for? Have a safe and happy Valentine’s Day everyone!
You can find the article on the legends of Valentine’s Day on the History.com’s Website.
Photo Credit: Money Earning
Posted on February 14, 2012 by Felicia
Thanks for a great post yet again.
I’m pretty ashamed to say that I haven’t gotten anything for my boyfriend. 
He made a silly website for me with some sweet messages and a video. <3 I should probably surprise him with something though, and do it when he least expects it. xD But then again, V Day is just like any other day for couples (what I feel anyway). 
Well, in my opinion, it doesn’t have to be Valentine’s Day to do something nice for the ones you love.
took the words right from my mouth, ditto. XDD I mean, you can get a romantic date anytime. XDD
oh so cute. XDD no roses or flowers whatsoever?
Nah, flowers are usually saved for our anniversary.
Anniversaries are highly important. XDD And it could hold the candle to v-day. XDD I believe that you can have a date even without it being on V-Day or any special occasions. Right? I know a guy, he forgot completely about their marriage anniversary, 20th. And his wife got really pissed. And she was yelling at him so loudly.
Yes, I believe that anniversaries are very important. My husband’s actually pretty good at remembering when ours is. We do go out on other occasions, even if they aren’t “special.” We spend a lot of time together, which is nice.
Good to hear your love life’s going good. I got no love life at all presently.
Why, thank you! Some people are happy not having a significant other. It does take time if you’re looking for someone though.
Yep, some people moan and complain so much about things. And take my dad as an example, he’s always slagging my mom off and stuff. But he really is in love with her. So weird eh?
Love is a complicated emotion.
I’m single on this day so I don’t celebrate it, but yeah. I actually don’t care much about it. But yeah, happy valentine’s to all the couples in this world.
As I read your comment, I found myself thinking about myself when I was single. I actually enjoyed Valentine’s Day even then. I guess I’m just an oddball, lol.
then, how did you celebrate it?
When I was single? With my friends. We’d send each other flowers and just hang out.
Thats a nice way to. I mean, you didn’t chalk out a girl’s night out? Thats how I would have celebrated it.
Well, not all my friends were girls, but like I said, we did hang out.
Oh i see. A mix of guys and girls then. It’s good to hang out with both sexes, because it would be safer. Why? Because you might get raped if you’re not accompanied by guy friends. Do you agree? Anyway, what gifts did you give to your hubby? And what gifts did you get from him? Nice ideas for v-day presents though.
Yeah, it was a mix of guys and girls usually, but I don’t think just because guys were in the group we were necessarily safer. Traveling in packs is better than traveling alone, safety in numbers, but I don’t think that there have to be guys. I know plenty of girls (myself included) who can take care of themselves just fine without a guy around.
I just sent him a special message this morning, but I plan to get him an actual physical gift tomorrow. We aren’t celebrating Valentine’s Day until tomorrow because I had to work all day and by the time I got home it was late. He did, however, get me a cute little stuffed Sonic and Tails and some candy.
Great effort. I’ve also written on Valentine’s Day with title “No To Valentine’s Day”
Thanks for the compliment! I’m glad you checked out my post and blog! ^^