“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.” Charles Schultz, cartoonist

I have big plans today and invite you to join me. Today, we’re going to spread love everywhere we go. We won’t walk up to strangers and say, “I Love You,” but we will live fully with love in our hearts.

All we need is love, right?

From the Beatles to my beloved Peanuts cartoon, and including all the memes on social media, the word “love” gets tossed around with ease. But I wonder, do we really feel it? And know it? Are we truly capable of living a life filled with love?

What I’m talking about is big love, the kind of love that requires the spirit and soul of a peacemaker, of a healer, someone capable of loving thy neighbor as thyself.

Some of us live in harsh neighborhoods where loving our neighbor seems dangerous and downright stupid. Others of us struggle to love ourselves and live in a perpetual state of self-criticism and self-loathing that leads to anger, fear, and depression. Saddest of all are those who’ve never known love at all.

That’s why I ask, can we love big? Can we walk our walk? And talk our talk?

I believe we can. It will require two things: observation and action. Observing our reactions to the people in our lives, and heart action — the ability to emit loving thoughts and energy throughout the day.

I am spurred forward with help from Victor Hugo, author of Les Miserables. Hugo reminds us that “to love another person is to see the face of God.”

You might frown and disagree; but, I believe that’s the source of big love. I’m moving forward with that as my mantra today, to see the face of God in all I meetincluding the face in the mirror staring back at me.

Will you join me, as an exercise?

After all it is St. Valentine’s Day and no one will think us odd if we walk around with love plastered on our faces. And if anyone dare question us, we can always sing and offer chocolates.