When I heard of a woman who sent herself a Valentine's Day card from her own dog, her story prompted me into thinking that those among friends and family who least expect to hear from me may cherish it the most. There are many ways of showing love and affection, just as there are many forms of the concept of love. Love is special, simple and straight forward. Sometimes. And then there is all the fluff that comes with it like expectations, kissing, marriage, family, hurt, self worth, divine love and all sorts of other angles and interpretations. So for special occasions like Valentine's Day, Mother's or Father's Day and even for birthdays, anniversaries and Christmas, it can be a challenge to find just the right thing to do, the right message to send and to determine whom to add to the list of recipients. These thoughts are the reason for yet another list of ideas for the ultimate way of sharing love and affection.

The first printed Valentine's Day card was produced by Ester A. Howland in 1841, who is considered the "Mother of Valentine's Day" (read more in this hub: Things That You Probably Don't Know About Valentine's Day.) But Valentine's Day is not the only day we share thoughts of love. Many of us remember important love related dates like the day of the first kiss, first date, first love declaration or act of love. And we cherish when our lover remembers too.

Then there is "Mother's Day" which was invented by the florists with great succes as it has become yet another important day to remember our mothers. As the florists realized the benefit of sales on Mother's Day, "Father's Day" soon followed and became a day of chocolate, wine and what's more.

And then of course there are birthdays, anniversaries and Christmas as occations for sharing our affection.

All these days are predictable dates of receiving love notes among those really close to each other, however, the lady sending a Valentine's Day card to herself from her dog, most likely didn't expect to receive love notes in the mail. She is the symbol of one to remember. So for Valentine to reach further out, I challenge you:

Find three people to send a Valentine's Day e-card or video, who wont be expecting to hear from you...

Below you will find a short list of unusual ways to share your love and appreciation:

Check out Care2 for a variety of 25.000 free ecards. Care2 was established in 1998 to make it easy for everyone to live a healthy, green lifestyle and impact the causes they care about most.

...or simply share a free hug the next time you meet someone special!

Yes, the two guys from New Zealand in the three videos are silly, however, their songs are funny tributes to women and love and link well with humor and smiles. Happiness is a key to love. I hope you will laugh a little as you watch one or more of these videos with "Flight of the Conchords" (please bear with me, I just couldn't choose one of them...) and maybe you know someone who would be amused to receive a link to one of them.