Happy Valentine’s Day! (and goodbye chocolate)

Candy and chocolate are a big part of some holidays like Valentine’s Day, but do we really need all those carbs? (Photo by Shelley Widhalm/Shell’s Ink Services)

By SHELLEY WIDHALM

Valentine’s Day is the key chocolate-related holiday, but really chocolate and candy get extra promotion from Halloween through Easter.

Then there’s a lull from April to September, though there are a couple of holidays during those months, including May Day and Independence Day. Those holidays get their own attention, but it has nothing to do with candy—instead it’s about delivering baskets, lighting fireworks and getting together over hotdogs and other American faire.

Back to Valentine’s Day and chocolate—I’m on the keto diet for health reasons and within two weeks have seen a decline in my need for chocolate. I still believe I need espresso drinks and have found the sugar-free versions are okay enough. My cutback on sugar and carbs has also resulted in a reduction in my desiring unhealthy foods, though dark chocolate has been shown to be rich in nutrients—flavanols may help improve blood flow, lower blood pressure and protect the heart.

Essentially, I’ve edited out sugar and reduced carbs from my diet and, at first, felt a low level of energy. Now my energy is back to what it was, and at least mentally I feel better about not relying on sugar for a mood/love boost.

That’s what Valentine’s Day is about—messages of love, which really shouldn’t have to do with candy, though they are sweet. The sweetness should come from the delivering and the receiving of the love message, not in the actual sweet (and unhealthy) ingredients.

I wish you on February 14: Happy writing. Happy editing. Happy Valentine’s Day.

And happy cutting out the unnecessary, whether it is food or extra words.

Lucky in Love (with Writing) on Valentine’s Day

Sure, I like my boyfriend, but my other love is writing!

By SHELLEY WIDHALM

When it comes to a romantic holiday like Valentine’s Day, do you think about your other love?

I do, though I’m not cheating on my boyfriend—I happen to love him and writing both. Valentine’s Day is about declaring your love for your love as in “Be Mine,” giving valentines to friends and enjoying all the different presentations and forms of chocolate. And it’s about the other loves—passions, hobbies and jobs.

This year, I’m showing my love for writing by setting aside at least a half hour a day, now that I got rid of a heavy burden on my schedule. I think of this time as a gift.

The Valentine’s Day tradition of giving gifts and exchanging cards developed out of Saint Valentines. Several Saints called Valentine are honored on Feb. 14, a day that became associated with romantic love during the Middle Ages. Traditionally, lovers exchanged handwritten notes and later greeting cards when they became available in the mid-19^th century.

Today, greeting cards and notes are a way to share sweet thoughts with friends and lovers. The written messages in them can be saved, reread and kept as physical proof someone is thinking about you. They’re also a way to spread love.

Here are 7 Things to Love about Writing

• Writing is a way to figure out what you really think or feel about something.
• It’s a way to play around with words and language.
• It’s a way to improve your understanding of words and the best ways to get your message across.
• It’s a way to express yourself, using your intelligent and creative minds at the same time.
• It’s a way to make connections with text, memory or experiences that you might not otherwise make by thinking or talking.
• It’s a way to tell stories and disappear into another world, where you don’t see the page and can’t tell you’re writing.
• It’s a way to be whoever you want to be and do whatever you want to do, going places and doing things you might not do otherwise.

Writing is a Perfect Match

It’s interesting to find out what it is you created after spending a few minutes or hours on a story or essay. It’s a process of discovery from seeing your thoughts written out. It’s a sense of accomplishment from meeting a word or time goal. And it’s reciprocal, because when you give your time and energy, you get back notes, then a rough draft and finally more as you keep working. In other words, you’ve found your match.

Loving Writing on Valentine’s Day

Zoey the Dachshund makes for a cute valentine!

Does writing fit with a romantic holiday like Valentine’s Day? The day is all about declaring your love for someone, but why not for a hobby or a passion?

As you check the aisles in the grocery store filled with pink and red from Valentine’s cards and heart-shaped candy to teddy bears holding stuffed hearts, do you think of a red notebook? Do you want to set aside maybe even just a half-hour for writing—or do you need to, ensuring the blog, article or short story meets deadline?

Do you see writing as a gift? This gift giving and exchange of cards developed out of Saint Valentines. A number of Saints called Valentine are honored on Feb. 14, a day that became associated with romantic love in the Middle Ages in England. Traditionally, lovers exchanged handwritten notes and later commercial cards when they became available in the mid-19^th century.

On the surface, greeting cards and the notes in valentines all involve the quick correspondence about friendship and romance. Communicating through writing has a universal appeal (think notes passed around at school before texting, texting, Facebook messages, emails, letters and cards). What’s written can be reread, saved and kept as a memento (even texts, if you copy them into a notebook or journal) and serves as physical proof that someone is thinking about you.

Writers do the same thing, compiling poems, short stories, manuscripts, ideas for writing and processes for doing the writing. They become collectors of the written word, saving their work toward the day they will be published. Or they simply write out of a passion and because it’s their hobby.

They do it because of love. For me, my love is writing, and a close second is editing.

Here are a few things to love about writing:

• Writing is a way to figure out what you really think or feel about something.
• It’s a way to be creative.
• It’s a way to play around with words and language.
• It’s a way to improve your understanding of words and how to be concise with language and how to effectively get message across.
• It’s a way to express yourself, using your intelligent and creative minds at the same time.
• It’s a way to make connections with text, memory or experiences that you might not otherwise make by thinking or talking.
• It’s a way to tell stories and disappear into another world, where you don’t see the page and can’t tell you’re writing.
• It’s a way to be whoever you want to be and do whatever you want to do, going places and doing things you might not do otherwise.
• And it’s interesting to find out what it is you created after spending a few minutes or hours on a story or essay. It’s a process of discovery.

Writing is the perfect match:

Lastly, writing gives you a sense of accomplishment after completing a story, meeting a word or time goal and finishing a novel or other large project.

In essence, it’s reciprocal, just like love, because you give your words and you get back a product, starting in rough draft form. But as you get to know each other even more, you develop a relationship, turning something rough into your perfect match.

 

Valentine’s Day and a Writing Love

Besides writing, Zoey the Cute Dachshund is another of my Valentine’s Day loves!

Valentine’s Day is about declaring your love for someone—or something.

It’s about cards, flowers and candy. But it also can be about other loves— a hobby, a passion or a job.

For me, my love is writing, and a close second is editing.

Here are a few things to love about writing:

• Writing is a way to figure out what you really think or feel about something.
• It’s a way to be creative.
• It’s a way to play around with words and language.
• It’s a way to improve your understanding of words and how to be concise with language and how to effectively get message across.
• It’s a way to express yourself, using your intelligent and creative minds at the same time.
• It’s a way to make connections with text, memory or experiences that you might not otherwise make by thinking or talking.
• It’s a way to tell stories and disappear into another world, where you don’t see the page and can’t tell you’re writing.
• It’s a way to be whoever you want to be and do whatever you want to do, going places and doing things you might not do otherwise.
• And it’s interesting to find out what it is you created after spending a few minutes or hours on a story or essay. It’s a process of discovery.

Writing is an accomplishment:

Lastly, it gives you a sense of accomplishment after completing a story, meeting a word or time goal and finishing a novel or other large project.

In essence, it’s reciprocal, just like love, because you give your words and you get back a product, starting in rough draft form. But as you get to know each other even more, you develop a relationship, turning something rough into your perfect match.

Writing and Love (and the Connection to Valentine’s Day)

One or two aisles in the grocery store during Valentine’s Day are filled with pink and red.

Valentine’s cards, heart-shaped candy and teddy bears holding stuffed hearts crowd the shelves to mark the day of giving candy, flowers and a dinner out.

This gift giving and exchange of cards developed out of Saint Valentine(s). A number of Saints called Valentine are honored on Feb. 14, a day that became associated with romantic love in the Middle Ages in England. Traditionally, lovers exchanged handwritten notes and later commercial cards when they became available in the mid-19^th century.

But what does Valentine’s Day and love have to do with writing (what I write about in this blog)?

On the surface, greeting cards and the notes in valentines all involve the quick correspondence about friendship and romance. Communicating through writing has a universal appeal (think notes passed around at school before texting, texting, Facebook messages, emails, letters and cards). What’s written can be reread, saved and kept as a memento (even texts, if you copy them into a notebook or journal) and serves as physical proof that someone is thinking about you.

Writers do the same thing, compiling poems, short stories, manuscripts, ideas for writing and processes for doing the writing. They become collectors of the written word, saving their work toward the day they will be published. Or they simply write out of a passion and because it’s their hobby.

They do it because of love.

What do you love about writing?

With blogging, I love that I am learning and re-learning elements of the writing process. I pick a subject and make discoveries and connections as I write. I improve my understanding of words and how to be concise with them and how to get my message across effectively in an interesting way.

With all types of writing, I become a better writer each time I write, particularly when I work in different genres from short stories to blogs to news writing, cross pollinating the techniques of each. Not only do I love the result but I love the process, putting words down to see what I come up with: a new idea, a new approach to dialog interchange or a different way of describing a character or a plot point that hadn’t occurred to me until I was actually doing the writing.

As I write, I love that I am creating, turning taps on the keypad into detail, description and story.