First, hi, and happy holiday that reminds different people of different ways to love, or to skip a holiday 😉 Valentine’s Day was never quite my jam – one of our closest family friends died, too soon, on this day in 2000, and the hoopla surrounding February 14 since then has felt commercialized and loud.
But something funny happened last night as I was looking back at what we at Campowerment have shared on Valentine’s Days past: I realized I kind of love the excuse to interrupt the regularly scheduled “love” cheesiness that’s trying to get you to buy more things, with a message that reminds me you don’t have to buy anything to be a part of something that matters to you.
It’s not that we don’t sell things – we’re really proud of what we offer to the world and think you’d dig it – but that’s not what a day that oozes love messages is about for us. At all.
We’d way rather encourage you (and ourselves) to look at love through a lens that makes you happy, that serves not only you now, but you at your most realized (you when you’re feeling the you-est…read that twice; I think you’ll feel what I mean).
On last night’s archival dig, I was reminded that I love how we (Campowerment) share this kind of lovey sh*t, with things like:
🟠 Oneil’s gorgeous poem: A love letter to my soul warriors; and
There are more, sure, but I hit these and was like, ‘hell yea. This is the kind of love I love: the kind that’s communal; that’s from a very deep well; that’s supportive of others’ wins (which somehow, in some way, feel like a slice of your own). The kind that shares insights and jokes about the humanity of a challenging experience. I love that!’
Then I questioned: Why? What do I love about it?
And the answer revealed itself right away:
In that kind of love, I feel seen; and like others let me see them.
In that kind of love, I feel loved; and like others do, too, at the same time, which makes me feel connected.
In that kind of love, I feel what it means to belong to something that matters to me.
And that’s the stuff that makes me tick.
So, in that incomplete thought, but very-complete feeling, I – and we at Campowerment – wish you a solid Valentine’s Day, your way.
From the campfire & beyond,
Chelsea
Oh! And while we’re on the topic of that loving feeling – join us on March 7 for a special giving event that’s open to all women: To kick off International Women’s Day (celebrated the next day) by opening our hearts to what inclusion really means.
This one’s an event for YOU that dually funds a life-affirming journey for another woman, as all proceeds directly fund scholarships via Give Her Camp. We’d love to see you…and the inspiring women in your life…there.
