Every day is a chance for us to show some love to our partners, family and friends, however February, in particular, is the month of love and we can call it “home” to Valentine’s Day. For some it is a chance to re-assure important people in our lives how much we love them and for others it is a perfect time to proclaim our love for the first time. Valentine’s Day is basically a chance to go extra hard for your loved ones.
They say that there is only one happiness in life, to love and to be loved. Well, this is arguable depending on what you think “happiness” is. To love is to feel and act lovingly and I tend to believe that one of the best ways to live your life, is by loving others and getting some love in return.
Whether it is from your family, friends, colleagues, wife, husband, siblings or even your fiancé, it feels great to love and be loved. We have always used the heart as a symbol of love. Ever asked yourself why we “place” the people we love in our hearts. Why the heart? Why not our eyes? How did we start symbolizing the heart with love? Tricky and weird question huh? Probably this question has never crossed your mind.
Cover and opening page of “Romance de la pear”
Image courtesy of Bibliothèque Nationale de France.
Image courtesy of Bibliothèque Nationale de France.
Today, the heart shape is the universal symbol of romantic love. People send millions of “digital hearts” over the web every day to express their adoration to someone or something. There are so many theories explaining why the heart is used as a symbol of love and there is one from the Medieval French illustration that gives us a clue. It was the first non-medical European illustration of a heart and it came into existence in the 1250s. It is actually a drawing that accompanies le Roman De La Poire which means “Romance of the pear,” a medieval French love poem by Thibaut. The poem talks about a lover who gives away a pear, which is considered to be the origin of the idea that a person in love can “give” his or her heart to someone they love.
This is interesting because today, we give our hearts to those we love with the hope that they will not disappoint us or make us question their loyalty to us. In the poem, the illustration depicts a kneeling lover who “gives” his heart to a lady. The heart shape is similar to that of a pine cone.
Now you have a clue on why you “give” your heart to the ones you love.
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