Celebrating Love Around The World

 Celebrating Love Around The World

by Sharon Bryant

It's almost Valentine's Day. Have you planned to do something special? There are so many ways to celebrate. You might be celebrating the love you and your partner share, or the love you feel for someone you care about. 

Love Around The World

Love is celebrated in different ways around the world. I thought it might be fun to explore this a little.

Japanese women traditionally give men chocolates on Valentine's Day. They used to give inexpensive chocolates, giri choco, to co-workers though this is less common these days. Honmei choco (special chocolate which is often homemade) is reserved for romantic partners. Japanese men generally don't give women Valentine's Day gifts. They reciprocate one month later on White Day by giving gifts that are two to three times the value of what they have received.

In Germany, it's traditional to give Valentines gifts of chocolates, flowers, or cartoons or keepsakes of pigs. Pigs symbolise good luck in Germany and are just as much a part of Valentine's Day as cupids in some other parts of the world.

Saint Valentine is a patron saint of spring in Slovenia. Valentine's Day is celebrated as the time when life begins to stir again. One traditional Slovenia idea is that birds "propose" on Valentine's Day. Traditionally people walk barefoot through the icy fields to see and appreciate the changes that springtime brings.

There are so many other beautiful loving traditions: Welsh love spoons, mountainous wedding ceremonies in Thailand, a four day festival in Verona with a letter writing contest to Juliet, and mass wedding ceremonies in public spaces in Manila.

I hope you thoroughly enjoy February 14 either thinking of or being with someone you love.

How do you plan to spend Valentine's Day?

I love to love spending time with my husband, family and friends.

I love to laugh with friends and family.

I love to learn more about love around the world.

10 Valentine's Day Gifts for Writers

by Enisa Haines

Ⓒ Enisa Haines

It's Valentine's Day today, the day we can tell the people most important to us they are loved. What to gift them? We all love a dazzling bouquet of fragrant red roses, chocolates temptingly displayed in a heart-shaped box, a teddy bear or a sparkling piece of jewelry, but gifting our loved ones something unique, something more personal, shows how much they mean to us. And if our loved ones are writers here's a list of gifts that will let them know how very special they are.

1. Paper roses

Buy here

If your writer loves flowers then a rose made to order from the hand-cut pages of a preloved copy of their favourite novel, each petal shaped by hand, will be sure to inspire.

2. Journal

Buy here

For writers who love to write by hand, whether to jot down ideas for characters, settings, conflicts or plots, or to write the complete story, journals with inspiring cover illustrations like the one above are gifts they'll treasure.

3. Feather Quill or Fountain Pen

 Buy here

What better way to inspire writing by hand than to hold a feather quill like those used by beloved authors of long ago.

4. Week/Month/Year Planner

 Buy here

Organising a week or month or year is a great way for writers to then focus on writing and keep track of their progress and other goals such as manuscript submission and book publication dates.

5. Online Writing Course/Writing-Editing Software/Creative Tools Subscription

 Buy here

Whether a beginning writer or a successful author with multiple books published, mastering storytelling is the common goal. Ways to achieve that include enrolling in online writing courses, enlisting the aid of writing or editing software or subscribing to online sites such as One Stop for Writers that provide creative tools.

6. Noise-Cancelling Headphones

 Buy here

If background noise is distracting then noise-cancelling headphones are just what a creative muse needs.

7. Kindle-Unlimited Subscription

 Buy here

Every writer loves to read so the gift of a digital subscription to accessing millions of books is one they'll be grateful for.

8. Writer's Clock

Writer's clock - Ⓒ Enisa Haines

When immersed in writing, writers often lose track of time. With a special writer's clock, they'll always know the time for the next task.

9. Ergonomic Chair or Coccyx Seat Cushion and Lumbar Support Pillow

coccyx and lumber support - Ⓒ Enisa Haines

Writers can spend hours seated at their computers, often with bad posture that leads to sciatica, lower back or tailbone pain. Sitting in an ergonomic chair will alleviate pressure on the coccyx/tailbone, relieve sciatic nerve pain, support the back's curve and provide healthy posture. If the budget doesn't allow for a chair, then a coccyx seat cushion and lumbar support pillow giving the same benefits can turn a bad chair into a good chair.

10. Writer's Retreat

Getting away from the responsibilities of daily life to a place where focus is solely on writing is every writer's dream. Time away at a writing retreat surrounded by other writers inspires motivation and lets creativity flow. 

Writer's retreat - Ⓒ Enisa Haines

Would the writer in your life like one of these gifts? Or is there something else they'd love to receive? 

Love to love: writing by hand. My creativity loves it too!

Love to laugh: romantic comedies are always fun.

Love to learn: for all things writing, One Stop for Writers is the subscription to have!