VALENTINE'S DAY

THE DAY OF LOVE

I will start by saying that, love endures. Today's weather was all sunny in the morning and I felt vibrant. full of energy. It's Sunday and my valentine just said it is of course, a sun day. I found it funny. I didn't think about it. But it changed in the midafternoon, it started raining. Slowly at first, just showers. And then a flood of water from the sky. Right now, its just cloudy and windy. Love can be moody.

 Today is the 14th of February. he day so many people in different countries celebrate love. At least that's what I know about valentines day. When I hear it, what comes to mind is a lot of white and red, roses, chocolates and candy, gifts, love, and cupid shooting people with the arrows so they fall in love. When I looked it up on the web, I found that it is a day that teaches us how we should express our love, care and respect for anyone who is important in our life. Its the best day to express love-but I beg to differ. Everyday is the best day to express love. 

Keep love in your heart all the time because where there is love, there is vibrant life.

In looking at all this and many more things about valentine, I came across some surprising facts about valentines day that I did not know on history.com.

SURPRISING FACTS ABOUT VALENTINES DAY

There are so many facts and stories about Valentine's Day on the internet. Some of them are as follows; 

1. In all, there are about a dozen St Valentines, plus a pope. The St Valentine we celebrate on Valentine's Day is known officially as St Valentine of Rome in order to differentiate him from the dozen or so other valentines on the list because, 'Valentines'- from the Latin word for worthy, strong or powerful- was a popular moniker between the second and eighth century A.D. Several martyrs over the centuries carried this name.

One St Valentine was supposedly a roman priest who performed secret weddings against the wishes of the authorities in the third century. Imprisoned in the home of a noble, he healed his captors blind daughter, causing the whole household to convert to Christianity and sealing his fate. Before being tortured and decapitated on February the 14th, he sent the girl a note signed, 'Your Valentine'.

2. You can celebrate Valentines day several times a year;

Because of abundance of St Valentines on the Roman Catholic roster, you can choose to celebrate the saint multiple times each year. Besides February the 14, you might decide to celebrate St Valentine of Viterbo on November 3 or another on the 4th of January. Women might choose to honor the only female St Valentine(Valentina), a virgin martyred in Palestine on July the 25th,A.D. 308. Love should be celebrated each day because with it, we become more of it.

3. You can find Valentine's skull in Rome

I wonder why anyone would be interested in seeing his skull. Am guessing because they would want to have an idea of what his head looked like. The flower adorned skull of Saint Valentine is on display in the basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedian, Rome.

  • How X came to mean Kiss

The use of X came to represent Christianity or the cross, in the middle ages. During the same time, the symbol was used to sign off on documents. After marking with an X, the writer would often kiss the mark as a sign of their oath. As the gesture grew among kings and commoners to certify books, letters and paperwork, these records were described as having been ''sealed with a kiss'.

  •  Box of chocolates

The valentines day tradition of giving a box of candy was started in the 19th century by Richard Cadbury, a scion of a British chocolate family. With a new technique recently established at the company to create more varieties of chocolates, Cadbury pounced on the opportunity to sell the chocolates as part of the beloved holiday

There are so many facts about Valentine's Day. It's history and origin. to find out more visit www.history.com just search for Valentines Day facts.
I will share with you below two poems I stumbled on about love. Its only fitting that I include them given their beauty;

HOW DO I LOVE THEE?(SONNET 43) by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

How do I love thee? let me count the ways

I love thee to the depth and breath and height

My sound can reach, when feeling out of sight

For the ends of being and ideal grace.

I love thee to the level of every days

Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.

I love thee freely, as men strive for right                               



I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.

I love thee with the passion put to use

In my old griefs, and with my childhoods faith.

I love thee with a love I seemed to lose

With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,

Smiles, tears, of all my life; and if God choose,

I shall but love thee better after death.

I CARRY YOUR HEART WITH ME-I CARRY IT IN By E.E. Cummings

I carry your heart with me(i carry it in

 my heart) i am never without it(anywhere

i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done

by only me is your doing, my darling)  

                                                   I fear

no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want

no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)


and you are whatever a moon has always 

meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you


here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows

higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart


i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

LOVE-love is just a word until someone comes to give it a meaning.

Love is the reason we do everything. It is being celebrated today. Hate is there because of love. But love is at the center of everything. In speaking of this lovely day, I beg to talk about love. A subject I find mysterious. Love fascinates me. Love is, I believe, what holds the world together. It is what started life in the first place. Without love, there is nothing. We are nothing. Am sure you and  I know countless songs dedicated to love or loved ones, letters, books, poems, buildings, flowers. The list goes on. In all matters of the heart and life, love comes first. In celebrating this amazing day as we honor and love each other, let us reflect on love itself. Loving ourselves and our neighbors. Loving being present in every moment. Below are some of the words or poems I have written about love. What I know for sure about love;

love makes man, not manners.

Love comes with open arms

But then, it first of all looks at you

Then decides to hug you or 

To pass you by

-love chooses

*                  *                  *

You are starting to lose yourself 

The moment you say, 'I love you!'

-love finds you

In detaching yourself from everything

You are attached to it all

*                  *                 *

Love will tell you to do something

And give you what you want

It adores being satisfied

Being mused

*                  *                 *

To love is to allow yourself to be vulnerable

*                  *                 *

I believe love shows up when you are looking for it

love of self

-it changes everything

You start to live the moment you decide to meet yourself and to love yourself with every one of your flaws. They make you.

Like heart strings, for a while

We were pulled together like magnets

It was beautiful-just right

Until it wasn't

-love fades

*                  *                 *

I would like to believe that love doesn't fade

It only changes its form

One time its about wine

The other, just water

*                  *                 *

love is a mystery

love is bliss

My love 

I will do whatever it takes 

To know you better

To love you with all that I am

*                  *                 *

Love is attention

Knowing everyone cares about what you do

Makes you do it even better

*                  *                 *

From ''The Little Prince'';

It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye. 

Your rose is your responsibility. You become responsible for what you have tamed.



''For it was not into my ears you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my life you kissed, but my soul.''-Judy Garland- Tkc

In knowing you, I've come to know what love is

And I've come to know and love myself

-Love changes


I LOVE YOU!

P.S. What does love mean to you? What exactly is it?

Comments

Danny Densan said…
Hey there am using whatsapp
modest rasta said…
nice piece ......***love is not something you find, it finds you*** ....catchy....
Thoko said…
Yes. Love finds you and you find yourself in the process. It changes everything

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