Did you happen to see our posts about Val Pal?  It was an idea to help me change my own personal narrative about how crummy I find February and Valentine’s Day. 

It started last fall while listening to a podcast hosted by two young women.  It was February of the previous year and most of the conversation centered around love- not so much the traditional image of Valentine love.  The romance of a couple eating out, surrounded by roses and chocolates.  It was centered on loving your self in order to be able to love others.

At one point they asked each other what advice the’d give their younger self.  This made me chuckle, they both sounded like they were in their early 30’s.  I can’t remember the advice they gave but it definitely got me thinking about the stories I tell myself about my past in particular.  I decided to change my February story and that’s the root of Val Pal.

The way Val Pal works is simple and straight forward.  Commit to sending a stranger a piece of mail by Feb 10th.  You could buy a card from a local artist or maker or make something yourself.  I was so pleased by the response and positive energy Val Pal generated.  So many folks were excited to have a small project to focus on and to send something sweet out into the universe.

While it’s wonderful to send out positive vibes into the universe many of us, including myself, struggle with sending kindness to ourselves.  An article I found particularly helpful was Self-Kindness: Upgrade Your Thinking on the Modern Daily Knitting blog.  It started me on my journey of  awareness.  With the first step of talking to myself like a toddler when I went into my old patterns of negativity.  It’s so much easier to be kind to others!

I’ll definitely do Val Pals again next year and hope you’ll join us.