I’m seeing this week of love as going outward in luscious ripples — we love those closest to us and let the love flow out to embrace as much of the planet as we can get to. To that end, I have some love-flowing Valentine’s suggestions for your consideration:

I’m gonna sing you a love song … Serenade your sweetheart with a live, personal love aria by noted Broadway and opera chanteuse Sherry Boone. In New York City, she’ll go in person to your honey’s home or office and serenade him or her on your behalf with three arias (you get to choose the ones) and a rose; or, she’ll entrance your truelove, wherever on earth he or she resides, with one special aria chosen by you and sung via phone or Skype. Not only is Sherry a gifted singer, she is one of the most spiritual people I know (see final vignette of this post), and song recipients will get the extra gift of just being in her aura for a while. For info, email operaathome@hotmail.com, or call 718/857-0640.

Mommy, where does chocolate come from? We don’t give the origins of our favorite February food group a lot of thought, but chocolate comes from cocoa farmers, many of them in very poor regions of the world. To help the farmers in one village repair their much needed well, and to provide scales for the growers in several villages (without scales, these subsistence farmers are often cheated by middlemen who weigh the cocoa themselves), Global Giving Circle seeks to raise $5000 this Valentine’s season.

There are two ways to participate: If you’re in New York City, you can come to the Chocolate Tasting Extravaganza on February 14, 3 to 5 p.m., at Side Bar, 120 E. 15th St. at Irving Place; tickets start at $25 per person. And for people in other places, you can contribute to this cause in any amount by going to Project Hope and Fairness.

Celebrate the season … The Season of Nonviolence, that is. It started January 30, the anniversary of the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, and runs sixty-four days, until April 4, the date of Martin Luther King Jr’s assassination. “It’s a time to commemorate the teachings and example of these two great human beings,” says pianist, speaker, and author Will Tuttle, whose book The World Peace Diet was put into the very hands of President Obama back in December. “The teachings of King — ‘Violence anywhere hurts everyone everywhere’ — and Gandhi — ‘Be the change you want to see in the world’ — point to the interconnectedness of all of us,” says Tuttle, “and to the necessity for an awakening to this truth at the daily life level.”

Dogs deserve better … than to be chained up all day, ignored, lonely, and subject to all kinds of weather conditions. The grassroots organization Dogs Deserve Better: No Chained Dogs!
agrees, and they’ve devised a clever Valentine’s Day project to help. It’s called Have a Heart for Chained Dogs Week.

Click on that link to see that “Have a Heart for Chained Dogs Week” is happening RIGHT NOW and you (and your children) can help. Dogs Deserve Better is looking for people to make and send valentines to chained and penned dogs everywhere, as well coupons for free and discounted dog food and treats, donations to fund the project, and — most importantly — addresses of any chained or penned dogs you know about. Please take a minute — that roadside is a sweet and thoughtful as your dog or mine, but nobody’s told him that.

Click and help … There are a number of causes you can support with no contribution of either money or time, simply by clicking a web link. If you bookmark your favorite and click every day, you’re really help. Among these are: The Animal Rescue Site, The Literarcy Site, and The Hunger Site. Sponsor companies donate for every click and all the money goes directly to the charity that speaks to your heart. 

Show some love to somebody the world regards as unlovable. Sherry Boone, the amazing singer I allude to earlier, was on a crowded subway on a steamy day and saw that one bench was nearly empty. Passengers preferred to stand because the one person seated there was a homeless man who smelled pretty awful. The moat of emptiness around him gave him a sort of pariah status, as he sat there clutching all he had in the world, a dented box of breakfast cereal. Sherry was only riding one stop, but she smiled at him and started a conversation, asking how he was doing and how his day was. He looked up at her as if she’d given him a million dollars, and said, “Thank you so much. You’ve made my day. You’re the first person who’s spoken to me in a long, long time.”

Let the love flow. That’s what we have it for.