The Best Day of the Year

By Doyne Phillips, Managing Editor for Southern Writers Magazine

As we prepare for Valentine’s Day we think of what our loved one would like most. Traditionally we give candy and flowers. 47% of us give candy. 73% percent of men send flowers and 14% of women send themselves flowers.  Then there are the 36% of us go to dinner.

One of our most popular ways of sharing is with a card. We purchase over a billion cards worldwide. 53% of those are bought by women. From our earliest Valentine’s Days spent in Kindergarten or Grammar School we gave and received cards expressing our love. This probably is our earliest memory of the tradition and it may also be what established it in our minds and later in our hearts.

Over the years I have read some amazing cards. I can only guess how one could gather together in a short space such passion and emotion. It always appeared to me someone spent time putting together words that were exactly what I would say if I had the talent to do so. Each year Hallmark puts out 10,000 new or redesigned cards. Someone had to put those beautiful, funny, passionate, emotional words on paper. My hat is off to those writers. They make what many of us feel would be an impossible task of writing beautiful prose and presenting it to our special Valentine easy for us all. 

Maybe we should send them a card?

Despite the commercialization the $13 billion pumped into our economy it is a very special day for many of us. We have a great opportunity to tell that special someone how we feel. Though some of us do so every day, the shyest among us or those who want to come forward with a new relationship can use this day to do so. After all it is tradition and expected.

We must be sure on this special day to give our gifts and share with our loved one our feelings we have for them. Apparently gifts play a bigger part than we may think. 53% of women said they would end their relationship if they didn’t receive anything for Valentine’s Day.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Write on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.” Happy Valentine’s Day!

The Value of Encouragement

By Doyne Phillips, Managing Editor for Southern Writers Magazine

“I greet you at the beginning of a great career.”

Walt Whitman struggled to get someone interested in his poetry. He had become discouraged when he received a note of encouragement from someone that possibly gave him what he needed to continue. Encouragement can mean a great deal to one that so desperately needs to hear it. It can also mean a great deal to one that just needs a nudge to continue on.

Talented writers appear to pick up their pen, or word processor, and just let their brilliance flow. We tend to think they write without any concern for acceptance from their readers, agent or publisher when in fact that couldn’t be further from the truth. I think we write to share our thoughts, feelings and desires with the world. In order for us to know this has occurred, we need feedback and encouragement from those we want to share with.

We are not unlike our favorite sports team that we cheer after each successful play, score or win. Encouragement plays a large part in a team’s success. That is why we speak of home team advantage. Home teams enjoy the advantage of a home crowd and the positive encouragement of their fans. It feeds their motivation, their drive and their success.   

I can only imagine the encouragement Walt Whitman felt when he read the following note penned to him. “Dear Sir, I am not blind to the worth of the wonderful gift of Leaves of Grass.  I find it the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom that America has yet contributed. I greet you at the beginning of a great career.” signed Ralph Waldo Emerson. Without this wonderful note from Emerson would Whitman have continued? We may never know. But we do know what did occur.

What is the value of encouragement? It may be found in the value of a Walt Whitman and his poetry. 

As we remember our need for encouragement let’s remember to encourage others in their endeavors. The right words from the right person may indeed bring us the next great poet or writer. I can only imagine hearing from someone I hold in high esteem, “I greet you at the beginning of a great career.”