Let's get personal for a moment, shall we?
Last October, I entered into what was perhaps one of the worst times in my life. Mainly, I struggled with personal matters that had affected me greatly, getting to the point where I took an entire week off from classes. I spent the time, honestly, in bed, in the dark, snuggled with a pillow not wanting to think about anything. At that time, it was my way of healing - and now, I admit, it was rather unhealthy, but was needed. As I re-entered classes within the next week, I was greeted with a mesmerizing amounts of "hey-you're-here!"'s, and "how-are-you-doing"'s, all of which was answered along the same lines of, "thank you, I am doing well! Just had some personal stuff come up but everything is okay!". The truth is, that answered didn't detail the half of it - and it got caught in the stigma that it is unimportant in being open and transparent with others about your own mental health.
Self-love is a major topic that I have mentioned in previous posts, but never really took time in explaining how important the idea of self-love can be. For me, self-love is something I have struggled with for most of my life. In being diagnosed with clinical depression and general anxiety disorder, the word "self-love" was something that often didn't come up in my life so much, instead being replaced with the words "self-doubt" and "disapproval". It wasn't until I had really focused on how important "self-love" could be more my own mental health that I started adapting it more into my own life.
Self-love is a concept that everyone has their own definition for. To me, self-love is described as taking moments in your life to show yourself unconditional love. It is a time to truly reflect on your emotions, live within the moment, and find simple ways to, in the words of Tom Haverford, "treat yo'self". Self-love has nothing to do with being selfish or egotistical. Self-love is about taking care of your whole entire self - mind, body, and spirit.
Within talking about self-love, here are some reasons as to why we think self-love is so important.
Self-Love Takes Your Emotions Into Consideration
Self-love takes into consideration so much more than just how you treat yourself. Self love is a way to truly understand how you feel about yourself, encompassing your emotions, your well-being, and your growth. When you begin to conceptualize self-love, take into account how you treat yourself. Do you treat and nurture yourself? Or do you find yourself to be self-deprecating and often negative of your thoughts and feelings? Think about how to talk to yourself daily and make sure you are treating yourself with love and consideration. In the long run, you find that with self-love, you are less tolerable of abuse or neglect from other people, will cultivate better people in your life, and are more likely to make decision to benefit you in your future.
Self-Love Allows You To Realize Your Own Uniqueness
Self-love allows you to see your individual uniqueness. It allows you to fully love the singular person that you are, knowing that you are unlike any other person. The features that go into defining you are truly beautiful - everything down to the color of your hair, the freckles on your face, and the tint of your skin! That is an incredible thing to think about it! In learning to accept the person that you are, and live to learn to not want to change the person you are, you will find that you will be promoting a much more positive well-being, attitude, and love for others. You cannot love others if you cannot love yourself first, so take some time to focus on yourself and show a little self-care and self love.
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-Patrick
