Kindnessgirl

All you need is love…It was Lucy’s first song. She sang it in the back seat of the car many a morning as we dropped boys off at school. I think she was trying to comfort herself, she wanted to go more than anything else. She was livin’ on love till her time came.

Whatever your relationship is with the holiday of love, here are a few ideas sure to make the love come ’round.

1. Welcome chocolate into your heart.  Now is the time to invest in experience my friend. Buy good chocolate (dark and rich) and good wine. No worries if these things do not appear via someone tall, dark and handsome, Love yourself and love yourself well.

2. Get Suggestive. When Jorge started turning our “healing words” set of magnetic poetry into suggestive sexual phrases on the refrigerator I decided to see if the real thing existed. Whaddya know, it totally does and it is WAY fun! Every morning I wake up to or leave a phrase like this:

Our kids haven’t caught on and the sexual humor is endless. We never even speak about it, but sometimes I hear him laughing in the kitchen.

3. Give in to the Family Love.  Growing up I had no idea Valentine’s Day was an exclusive holiday. My mother made a heart-shaped meatloaf, we decorated brown lunch bags to hold our family valentines, my dad brought home roses for me and my sisters.  Embrace whatever kind of love is before you and invite it if it’s not there. 

It came down to food one year. Jack suggested that if Valentine’s Day was about love we should each pick a food we love to eat at the “love dinner”. I kid you not, we had corn dogs, corn, and ham croquetas that year. and cheesecake with cherries on top for dessert.  It was one of my favorite Valentine’s ever.

4. Skip the expectation game. Don’t wait to see what your other is going to do or not do before you decide how this holiday is going to go down in the history books. Make a general plan leaving just a little room for surprise should one person be feeling the desire. It’s better to be in it together.

5. Spread the love. It’s the perfect time to share the love around. Take red flowers and homemade notes to old ladies or other unsuspecting individuals- teacher’s aides, school janitors, toll collectors, grocery baggers, etc. The love will come right back to you, kindness love is like that.  

Make way for love to come…it is all around.