16 Comments

Wonderful article beautifully written and the images are gorgeous!

Interesting that Valentineโ€™s Day wasnโ€™t observed in your country until recently. School children have traditionally exchanged Valentine cards with classmates with โ€˜mailboxesโ€™ on each desk and sweet treats sent by Moms.

In typical fashion, American commercialization takes over and now 24 billion dollars is spent for one day to prove love. It seems obscene when you point out that โ€œU.S. citizens spend about 50 times more money on this one day than the total annual budget of UNEP, the United Nations Environment Programme.โ€

Americans need to redefine values and assessment of priorities. Weโ€™ve lost our way.

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Thank you Lizzie, and yes, I believe so too

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Thank you for putting all this amazing history into a newsletter. It was a nice surprise to wake up to this morning - also your podcast. I love having something interesting to read and listen to.

I've never celebrated Valentine's Day myself. When I was growing up it wasn't a thing. When I was a teenager I might have seen it in American movies. Now, it's everywhere. In the bakery downstairs all their baked goods are heart-shaped today. Oh and flowers cost double of what they usually cost today. The days after Valentine's Day are great to buy chocolate at a discount ;-)

I love what you said at the end. Love connects us all. Today I'm going with the Finnish version of Valentine's Day - they call it Friend Day. What a great and inclusive concept.

Also, thank you for reminding me of that Mark Knopfler song. One of my favorites growing up. Didn't understand the lyrics in 1980, but loved the song anyway.

Happy Friend Day everybody! And Happy Valentine's Day to those who celebrate it.

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it's interesting to read where that line 'oh Romeo, I used to have a scene with him' refers to (Mark Knopfler's ex in an interview about their relationship)

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Happy Valentine's Day to all on The Planet ๐Ÿ’—๐ŸŒŽ ๐ŸŒท

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Thank you, The Planet can use some love ;-)

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I am chocked that the budget of the UNEP for the environment in the UN is annually less than the expenses in one day, St. Valentineโ€™s, by the Americans. The US ?

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and I didn't even include the environmental damage of those 24 billion dollars (flight to Hawaii as a Valentines present, etc)

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Our degradation of nature has even more worrying effects. Good luck with your initiatives.

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It's good to reflect and express to those we love, and especially extend to Mother Earth. Thank you Alexander for your wise sharing and Happy Valentine's Day to you :)

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Thank you Mary!

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Loved it then, love it now ๐Ÿ’–

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Thank you for the lovely reminder of the historical stories of Valentineโ€™s Day. It would be wonderful if people were kinder, thoughtful and considerate of all other people, animals and of the environment every day of the year โ˜€๏ธ๐Ÿ’š๐Ÿ’™๐Ÿ’œโ™ฅ๏ธ

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I hope for such a wonderful world :-)

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Happy Valentine's Day, Alexander ๐ŸŒ๐Ÿ’™

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Thank you, Rena, Happy Valentine's Day for you too!

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