Love Week: How to Feel Happier during a Tough Time of the Year

Happy February!

This time of year is one of the toughest in the school year, with many staff and students feeling fatigued and struggling with the lack of sun and vitamin D. It ‘s also no surprise that it coincides with Mental Health Awareness week. For both these reasons, one event that I always encourage in schools, and which we used to do in our boarding house, was to create Love Week for the week leading up to half term (as Valentine’s Day often falls in that week).

Love Week

Love Week consists of everyone being allocated a Love Angel - this is a person who will do an act of kindness for them, each day throughout the week, from Monday to Friday. It doesn’t need to cost money, but is more about the gesture. Sometimes, it can be something very simple, such as making that person’s favourite hot drink and leaving it on their desk for them as a welcome surprise. Alternatively, it can be a little chocolate, or words from a poem, or pictures of something/someone to make the other person smile. 

Some girls would go to great lengths, and one put balloons around the other girl’s bedroom. with little messages hanging from each one, saying 10 Amazing Things we Love about You - this transformed the other girl’s experience, from previously feeling unsettled and that no-one really liked her, to then feeling seen and appreciated.

The key to the success of this event is not just in its simplicity and altruism, but because it taps into the most basic human need to feel connected and valued. When we struggle in life, we tend to go inside ourselves, and the joy of this exercise is that it forces us to look outside, and in doing so, we gain from both giving and receiving acts of kindness.

So, I challenge you to think how you might like to bring this positive event into your school or home environment?

My girls like to leave each other a chocolate and a little note at different times throughout the day. I like to get creative with flowers, little gifts, or making a latte and trying to draw a heart in the foam!

I hope this might give you ideas and inspiration for a fun-filled February and if you’d like to follow my Love Week, and see the little gifts I share with my family, feel free to follow me on Instagram.