Happy Valentine’s Day!

Despite its crass commercialism, it’s hard to ignore the message of love that Valentine’s Day evokes.

There are several stories about the origin of the day of lovers — and they all come back to Valentine. One is of a third century priest who defied the Emperor Claudius and performed secret weddings on young lovers. Claudius believed that single men made better soldiers than those who had wives and children and forbid them to marry. When the emperor discovered what Valentine had been doing, he ordered his imprisonment and later his execution.

Another Valentine rescued Christians from the beatings and torture they received in Roman prisons. Still another Valentine is said to have sent a letter to the young girl who visited him in jail – he’d apparently fallen in love with her. He signed his letter, “From your Valentine.” 

Whatever the truth of the origin of Valentine’s Day, one thing is sure. It’s the one day in the year that lovers, and those who want to be, feel free to express their love by sending flowers, chocolates and cards – though maybe now, they also send emails, ecards and text messages.

Valentine’s Day represents a huge economic boon to florists, restaurants, card sellers. Approximately 189 million roses are produced for Valentine’s Day. However, if you waited until today, you’re likely to pay up to four times more per rose than you would have yesterday. You’ll probably also pay more for the meal.

Here in Jamaica as everywhere, lovers will celebrate Valentine’s Day with dinner and flowers.

I have learned not to worry about love; but to honor its coming with all my heart.
 – Alice Walker

Torch lily for Valentine's
Torch lily

Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.
 – Aristotle

Torch lily for Valentine's
Fully opened torch lily

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.
Lao Tzu

Red & yellow hibiscus for Valentine's Day
Red & yellow hibiscus

Young love is a flame; very pretty, often very hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. The love of the older and disciplined heart is as coals, deep-burning, unquenchable.
 – Henry Ward Beecher

Red & yellow hibiscus for Valentines
Closeup of a red & yellow hibiscus

Age does not protect you from love. But love, to some extent, protects you from age.
 – Anais Nin

Purple flowers for Valentine
Purple flowers (name unknown)

Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward in the same direction.
 – Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Pink rose for valentine
Pink rose (name unknown)

Love has no desire but to fulfill itself. But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires; To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night. To know the pain of too much tenderness. To be wounded by your own understanding of love; And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
 – Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

Red rose for Valentine
Red rose

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.
 – Helen Keller 

Pink rose for Valentine
Pink rose

Love makes your soul crawl out from its hiding place.
 – Zora Neale Hurston

Red flower with yellow star for Valentine
Red and yellow flower (unknown name)

Love does not dominate; it cultivates.
 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

How will you celebrate Valentine’s Day this year?

 

This is my submission to Travel Photo Thursday, which is organized by Nancie at Budget Travelers Sandbox. Be sure to head over and check out more photos from locations around the world.

This week, I’m also linking up with the Friday Daydreaming series organized by Becca at Rwethereyetmom. Hope to see you there!

36 comments on “Happy Valentine’s Day!

  1. Lovely, lovely post! Beautiful photos and sentiments. I like the Anais Nin quote – \”Age does not protect you from love. But love, to some extent, protects you from age.
\” Happy Valentine\’s Day, Marcia.

  2. Although Valentine’s Day is commercialized like every event, it’s nice to have a day allocated for lovers all around the world. After New Years, this must be the most celebrated event throughout the world. Beautiful flowers!

  3. I didn’t receive anything from anyone this Valentine’s Day. but I’m happy, knowing that there are so many people who enjoy the day basking in the warmth of their love. But of course, Valentine’s Day is not just all about love. Just like Christmas, I think it should also be about forgiveness, or giving to other people.

  4. Beautiful flowers! I tried to send my wife flowers for Valentines Day but they were put on the wrong truck and never arrived! I should have just sent her a link to this post.

  5. Aw, thank you! I’m really sorry to hear that. I hope the florist sends your wife a flowers for a year to make up for their error.

  6. Lovely photos! What camera did you use? I’m trying to do more with my macro shots and I really want to try experimenting with flowers. You have definitely changed my perspective in the whole thing. And oh, belated happy hearts day!

  7. Thanks, Donna. Some were taken with a Fuji Finepix others a Canon 60D.
    I love taking flowers. I didn’t have to use a macro lens for these though. Look forward to seeing your flower photos.
    Belated Happy Valentine’s Day to you too!

  8. Same to you! Hope you had a beautiful Valentine’s Day. For me, the day is not just special because it’s about hearts and balloons and roses. It’s about giving, and even forgiving and letting go of the painful past, and make way for a new love, and a new life as well.

  9. Happy Valentine’s Day to you too! I always look forward to Hearts’ Day, not just because of the flowers that I can get but because I love seeing couples everywhere that act all lovey-dovey during the holiday.

  10. Gorgeous flowers and post. We don’t really celebrate Valentine’s Day much up here, so it was interesting to hear about the (non-commercial) back story.

  11. I always love a flower shot, and these are all beautiful.

    Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward in the same direction.
 – Antoine de Saint-Exupery

  12. I might be 5 days late but it’s better than nothing. Happy valentine’s day! This is quite an insightful read by the way.

Comments are closed.