Who says Valentine's Day is only for Love Birds? In several Latin American countries the name for Valentine’s Day translates to the day of Love and Friendship, which I love because the celebration extends to pretty much all people we know and come in contact with. This month we want to share with you 5 ways you can extend the Love celebration to your community, friends and family. Let us know if you have other ideas, we’d love to hear about them!
- Volunteer or donate money - Working in soup kitchens and shelters took a bit of a hiatus during this pandemic, but many organizations are opening up again for volunteer help. One place we have volunteered with the kids is the Second Harvest Food Bank. You can sign up for a shift to work in their warehouse. If you’re not quite ready to be out among other people just yet, consider reaching out to your favorite organization to ask them if there’s any virtual work, i.e. blog posts, donation dials, etc. you could help out with. Or just simply donate money and let those dollars spread the Love for you!
- Help out your neighbor - In our neighborhood we have several folks who we check on from time to time that need a little extra help and I know they appreciate the care. With COVID on the rise again, we keep our check-ins to calls or sometimes we drop off food. But this year we decided to harvest a few of our backyard succulents and put them in pots to drop off to a few of our neighbor friends. There are lots of ways to be kind to your neighbor, i.e. raking leaves, walking their dog, sharing a meal. What will you come up with?
- Send a gift to a service worker - There are some service workers we see often and appreciate all they do for us. For example, postal workers, delivery drivers, and baristas are people that make our days so much better. These past few years we have relied heavily on the work of our Instacart shoppers, so we’ve decided to give them a little extra tip and we leave a bottle of water and a bag of chips at our door with a note that says “We Appreciate You!”. For these workers who do a lot of driving and often don’t have time to stop for a break, it’s an easy way to let them know you care.
- Give everyone you come in contact with a compliment - I am a firm believer in the power of small acts of kindness to have a significant impact in the world. I gave a compliment to a bank teller the other day about her earrings and she told me I made her day. The feeling of positivity I sent to her was immediately repaid to me by the warm and fuzzy feeling her words gave me. Sometimes spreading kindness and love is as easy as a genuine smile and compliment. Try it out and watch magic happen.
- Write a positive review for someone - There are so many small businesses and content creators that work really hard to deliver value to people and they often go unrecognized. Spread some love by writing a positive review for a local business, your favorite YouTuber, or your wonderful neighborhood Real Estate Agent (wink wink). Your 5 star Google review would mean the world to us. We’d love it if you could send us some love by clicking HERE. Let us know how you Love to be Loved. Happy Valentine's Day.
