Top 10 Actions We Can Take to Celebrate (((Love)))

February 14th is Valentine's Day in America. It’s the day to celebrate (((Love))). I like to reframe Valentines Day as a day we cherish all the people we love in our lives, not just our romantic partner. 

As Valentine’s Day shows up on the calendar, do you get a sinking feeling in your chest or stomach because you don’t believe there should be a day about romantic love? 

Does it feel like pressure to have a certain kind of romantic experience, creating unrealistic expectations for you and a partner? Are you single and not looking forward to the day of couples posts with roses and chocolates? Does the idea of conventional displays of affection feel disingenuous? 

If you’ve followed my journey at all you know that these kinds of expectations and gestures have nothing to do with my practice of leading from love. It’s always nice to be appreciated by a partner, and that is a form of showing affection and appreciation, however, love as a practice and technology to solve human problems is so much more than that. 

That’s why I got so excited about the idea of “Galentine’s Day”. An opportunity to reframe the Valentine’s Day romantic love pressure cooker into a warm and nutritional offering that celebrates the love we have for our girlfriends and ourselves. 

Let’s call this the great Valentine’s Day reframe of 2021! If there’s anything we learned from 2020 it's business as usual doesn’t work. We’ve been asked to be flexible, resilient and humble as we navigate a global pandemic, and enormous political and social shifts. So what do we do about Valentine’s Day looming on our calendar? The stale candy and over priced flowers suddenly lose their meaning as we stretch to understand the quickly changing landscape of our times. 

Through the practice of asking, “What would love do?” we can take this day to a deeper level.

1. Water Love: Make yourself a hot bath with epsom salt and a few drops of your favorite essential oils. Allow the water to embrace you in it’s warmth.

2. Earth Love: Take off your shoes and walk on the earth. Feel the grass, dirt, sand or stone. 

3. Self Love: Speak the mantra, I am worthy, I am loved. Repeat until you believe it. 

4. Nourished Love: Make or order your favorite meal, paying attention to the way it tastes and feels in your mouth.

5. Spoken Love: Use kind words in all interactions. Notice the way it makes people feel around you. 

6. Morning Love: Before you open your eyes in the morning, think of one thing you’re grateful for.

7. Attentive Love: Turn off technology, be silent with yourself, close your eyes and experience what bubbles up. 

8. Affectionate Love: Give yourself a foot massage. Use a natural oil or body butter and thank your feet for carrying you everywhere you go. 

9. Future Love: Write a letter to yourself with loving words of encouragement and acknowledgement. Seal it and send it to yourself at the end of the year. 

10. Divine Love: Giving love to others.