Valentine’s Day 2017 week was trash. It was absolute basura. I was a wreck from the events that transpired and I am still dealing with the residual theoretic dust from that fiasco. 2018 was OK. I don’t really think I thought about it much. This year, I am focusing on myself, my friendships, and relationships with my family and loving them better.
There is a rhetorical type question/statement that says, “How are you going to love someone else, if you don’t love yourself?” And that true. If you don’t know how to love yourself, you 1) can’t direct people how to love you 2) can’t adequately love others because you are giving out of an empty vessel 3) don’t know how to deal with the rough spots within yourself, so are not equipped to deal with the someone else’s rough spots. So this Valentine’s Day, and this year, I am challenging myself to love myself a little louder. How do I plan on doing that? I’m glad you asked. You’re so considerate. Let me share with you how I plan on doing that.
More journaling
I overthink a lot. It is a gift, and most definitely a curse. I plan on journaling more to empty out my brain of all the cluttering thoughts so I can think more clearly and be able to receive direction when necessary. I may invest in a directed journal so I can have a more guided experience.
More self-care with a Panda twist
Outside of my nail appointments, I don’t do much what some would consider ‘normal’ self-care tasks. Well that needs to change. Group-on and Living Social make it too accessible for us to be able to get services at a reasonable price, so I plan on doing that more often. More massages, more facials, and more massages. I carry ALL my stress in my neck, shoulders, and upper back. It has definitely been building up for years and I could benefit from regular massages. I do a form of self-care that most people may not consider as self-care: I go out. Simple, but impactful for me. When I want to go out, I go out. Not all the time, but frequently. My friends aren’t always available to go out with me, and I can stay home alone. There is nothing wrong with that, but I find if I let it go on too long, I can start down a sad road. That’s why I go out to bars, clubs, events, concerts and restaurants alone. It does my soul well when I am out and about around people, doing one of my favorite things- people watching. Honestly, it’s great. I am on my own time schedule and can create my own experience without having to consider anyone else’s thoughts.
More new tasks
I started to take a ceramics class through my community adult school. I am the youngest person in the class. This is something I have been thinking about for a while and am happy I finally decided to try it out. I have been cooking more, experimenting with different recipes and investing my some useful kitchen gadgets; using my crockpot because…winter. I have been taking my blog/brand more seriously because I enjoy creating for my slice of the interwebs. Creating makes me happy. I will be trying my hand at hand weaving soon. I love the look of woven tapestries, and I know I can do that with practice.
More reading
Since I decided that I was not going back to school, I realized that I can finally go back to do something I enjoy- personal reading. Have you ever been so overwhelmed by something that you just don’t start? That’s how I feel about reading right now. There are so many books on my list, I want to start out with a bang. I’m ridiculous, I know. I need to just pick a book and start. I am very excited to start tackling my reading list and engage my brain in a manner I have not in a long time. I cannot wait to dig deep into Mom & Me & Mom by Maya Angelou, Creative Quest by Questlove, and Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates.
These are the ways I plan on practicing my self-love journey. Doing more of the things I enjoy, living more intentionally while working through my rough spots.
How are you going to spend this love season? What has your self-love journey looked like? What sparked your self-love journey? Share in the comments below.
Know I always got love for you.
xoxo, Panda
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