Love is in the Air.

 It's the season of love.  Valentine's Day season.  I know, I know what you're thinking.  That Hallmark invention!?  I won't have anything to do with it!

Or perhaps you see Valentine's Day as a day when you're expected to gift your lover with with some sexy lingerie and expensive jewelry.

Then again, perhaps you remember the days of the big heart-shaped boxes from Russell Stover, filled with assorted chocolates.  Perhaps you recall pawing through them (when your mother wasn't looking) in search of those much-coveted coconut clusters.  Oh, and the tummy aches!

My goodness--isn't this a far cry from the original mid-winter Pagan festivals and the poetic greetings from the Middle Ages when Charles, Duke of Orleans, wrote lovingly to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt when he wrote to her, My very gentle Valentine.

Yes, we've come a long way from the days of such passion and heartbreak.  It would seem that Valentine's Day has been completely commercialized and monetized and its original meaning has been forever lost.

But I say, take back Valentine's Day this year!  

With the Pandemic still with us, why not embrace this moment in time--this reset, if you will--to reclaim Valentine's Day.  Why not paint a pretty card?  Write a poem.  Get a stamp and put it in an envelope.

Ah yes, this is very old-fashioned.  But don't you like the idea of celebrating all the people in your life that you love--your partner, your parents, your children, your grandchildren, and your friends.  It's just a sincere little gesture to say--I love you, or at the very least, I appreciate you.  And I do, dear readers--appreciate you, that is.

So, Happy Valentine's Day!  Your creativity prompt this week is to paint a little Valentine's Day card and write a poem.  That's it.  Oh, except, you should give it to someone special.

And to get you inspired, here's a few of my home-made cards:

See you next week!

Have fun.

Love,

Jamie