in a piece in monday's guardian about the commercialisation of valentine's day, jeannette winterson had a plagiarisation-fest. without crediting sources, or even linking to or publicising this weekend's event, she alluded to the 'occupy your heart' logo, and lifted the whole concept of a nine-year long succession of 'reclaim love' events which are going ever-more global. if you want to be involved in this year's event, come along to piccadilly on saturday (18th) at 2pm and change the world a little and take part in history. ms winterson is invited too if she promises to stop stealing.

covering the 'reclaim love' events each year, i've noticed one major thing - each year it gets bigger and bigger. both in terms of the numbers of people attending the london party, and also in terms of more and more parallel events taking place around the country and around the world.

so, with mild weather forecast, and a world in desperate need of more love, hundreds of people will be congregating around eros from 2pm on saturday and taking part in a celebration, a party, and a meditation. early birds will get hold of the fabulous free t-shirts given away each year. the samba band will play a few tunes. there'll be arts for kids, food for all, entertainment all afternoon with special and surprise guests, and at exactly 3.30pm, in sync with thousands across europe, and in a global time-wave of love with perhaps tens of thousands of people around the world, an eerie calm will descend on the commercial and tourist heart of london, and hundreds of people will clear a space around the fountain, holding hands together in a large circle, to begin chanting 'may all the beings in all the worlds be happy and at peace' over and over for several minutes.

i'm actually a bit of a cynic when it comes to this stuff, but i have to admit the power and spectacle of this event is quite remarkable, and it's always followed by just the best street party on into the evening.

the whole concept has obviously captured the imagination of jeanette winterson too. just a shame she didn't use her perfectly adequate imagination and instead lifted the whole thing without credit for her own means. but such is the spirit of 'reclaim love' that if she puts in an appearance on saturday i'm sure she'll still be welcomed.

the organiser, "venus", proposes the theory that if enough people do this worldwide at the same time (i think her figure is two million), then they can effect a shift in global consciousness. she's aiming to reach that figure by 2014, when valentine's day falls on a saturday.

there's certainly some scientific backing for the idea that the more you focus on something the more likely it is to manifest, and with the issues facing the world right now, there doesn't seem any harm in trying, especially in such a fun and celebratory way, so come and see for yourself on saturday in piccadilly circus.

reports from previous years: http://london.indymedia.org/articles/7350 and http://london.indymedia.org/articles/7351

reclaim love website:  www.reclaimlove.org