Red hearts are everywhere lately! Not just the card store, or on the Valentines Day cards your kids are “secretly” making for you…I saw someone promoting Heart Shaped Rice Balls for Valentines Day! Heart shaped rice balls? Hearts are EVERYWHERE!
Hearts are symbolic of love, but they also represent the center of your body, and the home for your strongest emotions. So let’s speak from the heart about a few February heart holidays.
Heart Holidays Abound
Valentines Day falls in February, but February is also National Heart Month and Black History Month. Even if you don’t celebrate Valentines Day, you probably have heard of it! But what about Galentine’s Day? There are at least three heart holidays in February!
February is American Heart Month
The month starts off with National Wear Red Day on February 2. The purpose of this day is to raise awareness of the number one killer of women – cardiovascular disease! (Unfortunately, many women are surprised to learn this!) A room, an office, a classroom full of red shirts and dresses, is a powerful image!
American Heart Month is a time to focus on heart healthy living. Self care in the form of diet changes, daily activity, and stress reduction can lead to improved heart health.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in all Americans, but the African American community is especially hard hit. American Blacks have the highest incidence of high blood pressure in the world!
Heart Healthy Valentine Ideas
- Heart healthy talks and free screenings are offered in many places during February. A great Valentines gift could be a “coupon” to get a cardiovascular risk assessment with someone you love.
- Make a favorite family recipe for someone instead of getting chocolates or bakery goods. Visit the American Heart Association for tips to modify your recipes to be heart friendly.
- The Monday Campaigns is another favorite resource to help make some hearth healthy lifestyle changes, including stress management, physical activity, plant-forward eating, and tobacco cessation.
Valentines Day
Valentines Day has been celebrated since the 14th century. With such a long history, you’ll find many stories about the start of the holiday. Our favorite involves St. Valentine, a man who took great risks to administer the sacrament of marriage.
There are some strong negative emotions associated with Valentines Day. You may (or may not) be surprised to hear that some people in the world hate Valentines Day!
Valentines Day isn’t celebrated all around the world. So you’ll find some people (like the Queen’s mother) call it a “Hallmark Holiday”, implying that it’s all about marketing and money, as opposed to a day of sharing love.
They could be right…according to an article in the US TODAY, the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics forecast $26 BILLION would be spent on Valentines Day in 2023!! Yikes!
Valentines Day is a couples holiday. It doesn’t matter that elementary aged students send Valentines with their favorite Disney characters on them to all their class mates, along with sweet treats as a sign of friendship. As you get older, the pressure to be romantic on Valentines Day goes up (and the need to send a Valentine to everyone you know goes down).
Valentines Day falls in February, which has also been designated National Heart Month. The month starts off with National Wear Red Day, to raise awareness of the number one killer of women – cardiovascular disease!
Bee-ing single is not a great thing to be on Valentines Day. Being alone is especially hard when you are surrounded by “happy couples.” Valentines Day is the worst for those who just went through a breakup or divorce. Women in particular report feeling down on February 14th.
Galentine’s Day
Galentine’s Day was the title of a TV episode for Parks and Recreation, a sitcom that aired on NBC from 2009-2015. The show is no longer on, but Galentine’s Day is now a new holiday, one that celebrates women’s friendship.
What is Galentine’s Day? Quoting the show, Galentine’s Day is “the best day!” Celebrated on February 13th (the day before Valentines Day), it is “the day of “uteruses before duderuses.”
Since airing in 2010, the idea has grown in popularity. Galentine’s Day is not intended to be romantic or exclusive; it is a day to recognize important bonds between girl friends.
Say it out loud…”uteruses before duderuses.” You cannot help but smile!
Galentine’s Day Celebration Ideas
You can’t buy love. So celebrating any of February’s heart holidays shouldn’t break the bank. If you want to “live in someone’s heart forever”, bee sweet and bee personal!
- Girlfriend Photos – Those group selfies? when you were all laughing so hard? Taking the time to find one special photographic memory and frame it it really priceless. And it doesn’t have to be a frame. Maybe a screen saver. Maybe a key chain. Bee creative.
- Pajama Party – I know. It sounds ridiculous. But hey – Galentine’s Day is the day to bee ridiculous. You’re with your friends. Who else can you be ridiculous with? (Fine. If a pajama party sounds impossible, think of another group activity you can do together).
- If you’re far away, or you insist on getting Galentine’s Day presents…keep your gifts small, personal, and useful. A bag of “kisses” (we love moisturizing lip balms); a face mask (our favorite from Backyard Bees has raw honey in it); or a little house plant.
Last Words
The gift of health is a big one. There are so many things to celebrate, including heart holidays in February, without going crazy. Bee Well!
