In this parts of the world it is February 14.

Happy Valentines Day!

I spent yesterday doing the usual. Going to the mall for some air conditioner relief (really, I never thought I would ever be a mallrat, but when you live 10 minutes walking distance from a major mall, live in a concrete slab slums with no air conditioner and still don’t cook with coal, it just kind of happens). But then I also bought an erotica book (because I have this fantasy to become a popular erotica writer, under a pen name of course, but realize I’ve never actually read proper erotica) and my boyfriend and I saw The Vow which is the perfect Valentines day movie.

But this has nothing to do with this article.

Boyfriend aside, I honestly believe one of the cheapest forms of love is romantic love and that this Valentines Day business is… well, not my thing.

I’m proud of the fact that I’ve never received flowers and the rebel in me wants to stick my middle finger through Cupid’s heart.

Ouch. This chick is brutal.

Whatevs.

My point is that romantic love is often cheapened by the whole courting thing itself. “Falling in love” is just an infatuated idea of love laced with crazy hormones and pheremones. Add in the idea that current day marriage is basically a joke (and less females are choosing to get married) that would honestly be set right by allowing gay marriage because marriage, like society, has evolved.

(Not that you didn’t know my stance because I’m obviously a raunchy liberal and completely off the map when it comes to democrats and republicans, who are seriously in bed together having crazy orgies, why do you think I chose to opt-out and move out of the country as soon as Bush left? I’m monogamous, ya freaks, and I don’t regret it.)

The better way to practice love is to Love Yourself (In a World that Doesn’t Want You to). In this way, you rely less and less on external factors for assurance and validation (the media, the “perfect” boyfriend/girlfriend, the beauty magazine that tells you what you “need” to look pretty) and exude self-confidence within yourself.

Once you learn how to love yourself, relationships then become less and less something you “need” but something you choose as a conscious way to outpour the love that you already have. You don’t need to go searching for it, but it’s something that you want to share.

The love that you want to share spills over in relationships of all kinds. Being a more loving, compassionate being is a mindset shift that means loving yourself, your enemies and your neighbors. This doesn’t just mean your street, your city, your state or your barangay (village)… It’s compassion for all living things and the world. Remembering we are one.

Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.
~ Dalai Lama

Maybe John Lennon and the Beatles were right.

All you need is Love.

The Real Way to Show Some Love this Valentines

With love and compassion in mind, the real way to show some love this Valentines day, or any day is to start donating to a good cause and help change the world for the better. I’ve got the perfect cause to champion!

My friend and amazing woman entrepreneur, Natalie Sisson of The Suitcase Entrepreneur is taking on a major challenge and needs your help! Natalie has really encouraged me over the years and been a major inspiration in my solo blog bum entrepreneur journey ever since she commented on one of my very first posts on this blog! When I heard that she was biking across the entire African continent to raise $10,000 for WomenWin.org and help improve the lives of women and girls in Africa, I jumped at the chance to help promote the cause (hello, no self promo).

For more information and how you can get involved, go to Natalie’s snazzy looking fundraiser page for more details!

Additionally, you can also buy fashionably designed graphic tees and tanks (designed by the popular exiler Colin Wright himself) where a generous 50% will be donated to the cause!

Janet

Janet is a Professional Hobo, burgeoning entrepreneur and homeless nomad passionate about working with creative world changers and showing people how to march to their own beats.