Every Valentine’s Day I tell my husband to not take me out for dinner, or buy me flowers or presents, because I think all this commercial Valentines Day stuff is ridiculously over-priced, and hence, stupid.
Every Valentine’s Day he doesn’t buy me flowers, take me out for dinner, etc… I feel disappointed, because he followed my directions so wonderfully.
Really, it is a lose-lose situation. I will be disappointed either which way.
Holiday Makeover
Honestly, I have had to reinvent holidays from both the way I’ve grown-up and out of popular culture. This helps me take my expectations down-a-notch, so that way I can have a good day even if if the holiday wasn’t “holiday-ish” enough. Because what is the meaning behind a holiday, anyway?
So, on my anniversary, I sit down and thank God for the changes He has made in us so that we are together another year.
On Thanksgiving I take time to be thankful, despite whether I had to spend hours slaving in the kitchen just to eat it with people who don’t really appreciate it, or with friends who do.
And the other Holidays? Well, I am working on those.
Point being, reinventing culture begins in our own homes.
Generosity Day
This is why I am such a huge fan of the people taking part in Generosity Day and reinventing Valentine’s Day, asking questions such as “What is LOVE actually?”
Today we are trying to hit one million acts of generosity amongst those of us re-claiming Valentine’s Day for something else. Very cool, right? So, um, do it then!
It is easy to be like, wow, cool, people doing random acts of kindness! I support this! Retweet! Share! But, this is only happens when people are CHOOSING to be generous.
Choosing To Be Generous
In some ways I am lucky because my jobs require me to be generous. Today I must deliver 40 bags of food to feed hungry kids at our local school because this is part of my job with L2F Needs Network, helping eight local schools receive food for the kids that need it. I give people opportunities to be generous themselves, $5+ to end human trafficking, hopefully enough to fund a rescue operation for modern slaves, because this year I am directing the Little Black Dress Project. I help people learn how to work to end modern slavery, because I work for the Loudoun Human Trafficking Task Force. Today I helped in my daughter’s class, and watched my friend’s kids. Not really because I am nice, but because I’ve chosen to care for these kids.
Of course, I chose these jobs a long time ago. But that doesn’t mean I am choosing them actively today. They require work and effort, but they don’t require something unusual, and therefore, generous.
So today or tomorrow or this week (as I know for a fact that we want to extend Generosity Day) I am choosing to give away a book to the first person that comments on this post with how THEY will be generous. I have some friends that are book bloggers for ReadingTeen.net, and I reap the benefits of being friends with them, getting to read the next most popular YA book for free (sometime before it even comes out)! I usually return these books back to them, but I have a few YA books, and tons of advocacy books about every subject (human trafficking, poverty, religion). I, at least, would want one of my books 🙂
Today I am choosing to give a book away that I’d probably rather not give away for Generosity Day.
How can you be generous today?
And even more importantly, how can you make GENEROSITY, and random acts of kindness part of your every day life? Don’t let it end today. Or tomorrow. It is a choice to be generous today and it is a choice you have to make again and again and again.
Check out the website: Spread Generosity Day or “Like” them on Facebook or use the #GenerosityDay hash-tag on the twitterverse.
