It may surprise you to learn that Valentine’s Day was not invented by the chocolate, floral, greeting card, jewelry and restaurant industries. Legends about this February 14th celebration, named after Saint Valentine, abound.
According to The History Channel, the Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred. One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.
Another story suggests that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons, where they were often beaten and tortured. While imprisoned, Valentine actually sent the first “valentine” greeting after he fell in love with a young girl — possibly his jailor’s daughter — who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged he wrote her a letter signed “From your Valentine.”
Take This Job and Love It
While these Valentine legends may or may not be true, February 14th has evolved into a day where “love” is on the minds of just about everyone. In spite of the mass media’s focus on romantic love and its requirement that couples prove this love with flowers, candy and cards, Valentine’s Day can also remind us of those other things we love – like our job.
If you love your job, you are one lucky person. Since we spend 8 to 10 hours every day (most of our waking hours) on our jobs, it takes most of our energy and time. It’s a “relationship” which can be mercurial, frustrating and demanding. It can also be rewarding, gratifying and fulfilling.
In honor of Valentine’s Day, we asked a few of our friends, clients and colleagues to complete the sentence: “I love my job because…” Here are their responses:
Peyton Meche | Membership Coordinator | Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce
I love my job because I love Lafayette and every day I get to work with energetic business-minded people who are invested in making Lafayette a greater place to live, work and raise families!
Kevin Prejean | Principal/Creative Director | Prejean Creative
I love my job because I love the creative process – ideation, designing, illustrating and problem-solving. It’s rewarding to hit a big idea and move the needle for our clients.
Nancy P Marcotte | Broker/Operating Partner | Keller Williams Realty Acadiana
I love my job because every day I get the opportunity to solve problems, work with wonderful, fun and high-integrity people, learn new things and help people get into the home, office, land, camp or whatever they are looking for! I also work for the best real estate company in the world, Keller Williams Realty!
Brent Pelloquin | Associate Creative Director | Prejean Creative
I love my job because it allows me to enjoy the same basic creative exploration process I’ve enjoyed since I started drawing for fun as a kid. I also love the fact that I get to produce work for such a wide variety of industries. One project may be for healthcare, the next for the oil and gas industry, and each project gives me the opportunity to learn more about those fields. It’s anti-assembly line and that makes for some fun days on the job.
Matthew Tarver | Assistant Director of Brand Management and Creative Services
Office of Communications and Marketing | University of Louisiana at Lafayette
I love my job because I build bridges for the University. My role as branding manager is to connect our business partners and our fans. I get to help develop ways for people to showcase their love of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and to express their Ragin’ Cajuns spirit.
Kim Bonin Chandler | Business Manager | Prejean Creative
I love my job because it’s doing something that I love, and working alongside some of the most creative people I know!
Joey Durel | City-Parish Mayor-President | City of Lafayette
I get to wake up every morning knowing I will have a chance to make a difference in the lives of people in my community. I know for sure, that every day, I will have a chance to help people.
Lisa Prejean | Principal/Account Director | Prejean Creative
There’s a new reason every day to love my job, because each day brings something different. I love helping our clients tell their stories and reach their goals. And I work with some really wonderful people who make my job so much easier because of their talents and positive attitudes.
Allison Dickerson | Business & Marketing Analyst | Lafayette Utilities System
I love my job because I get to meet and collaborate with new and exciting people every day!
Jordyn LeBlanc | Intern | Prejean Creative
I love my job because as a new intern, I feel very welcome here. I haven’t been here very long but I already feel as if I am a part of Prejean Creative.
Glenn Brasseaux | Mayor | City of Carencro
I love my job because we have a great team, consisting of our council members, our employees and myself that work hard every day to make our community one of the best places to live, work and raise our families.
Gary LoBue, Jr. | Prejean Creative
I’ve always had the feeling that some of the best things in life are intangible. The job I have is one big, honking intangible; consistently full of surprises (the kind that makes the heart flutter). As such, it smacks dead-nut into my best-things-in-life category. It’s not Westley and Buttercup true love – that’s reserved for the wife, but my job is something I look forward to most every day. That must be love.
Mike Wolf | Internet Marketing Manager | The Stow Company
I love my job because of the great people, the culture of continuous improvement, and the shared passion and empathy for our customers. Everybody from the top down is genuinely committed to success and it makes for a fun, fast-paced, environment with a lot of opportunities to make a difference.
Megan Gonzales | Intern | Prejean Creative
I love my job because it is a free, creative environment where I can not only learn from and get advice from other team members on my own work, but they also bounce ideas off of me and allow me to be a part of some of the projects they have as well. I have been interning with Prejean Creative just over a year now, and could not be more thankful to have the opportunity to learn from such a great pool of talent and for the chance to feel as “part of the family”.
Renée Menard | Executive Director | Family Promise of Acadiana
I love my job because every day I get to see the generosity and compassion of the community that I live in. Each day I am amazed that people will donate their time, money and talents to help perfect strangers who have fallen on hard times.
Art Young | Content Development | Prejean Creative
Getting to work on blogs like this is why I love my job. This is made even sweeter when my friends and colleagues come up with cool content like that found above!
Happy Valentine’s Day from your friends at Prejean Creative!
Great Blog! And Gary LoBue – you crack me up!!!