I am honored to be over at Weightless on Psych Central today (read this blog regularly if you aren’t already. Margarita, the brains and heart behind Weightless, is amazing and offers incredible inspiration) as part of a regular Self-Love Series
Here is just a little bit of what I have to say in the interview…
How do you practice self-love?
Now, I practice self-love by how I interact with myself at most every turn. I feel something in my body, and I respond to it as soon as I possibly can. I feel something in my soul and I honor it and respond to it in a way that allows my spirit to know that it has been heard. I think something and I honor that thought- by finding the answer to the question or sharing the idea or capturing it on paper.
Self-love allows me to understand that I have worth and that my whole being deserves attention. So paying attention is my greatest self-love practice. But has it always been this way? No.
When I was young, paying attention to everything and anyone else was my first priority. It was the ultimate in unselfishness, I felt, and I wanted desperately to be unselfish, to give, to have an impact.
Once, one of my high school students wrote me a note that said, “I fear that you might give until you give out.” Sadly, he was both wise and prescient.
I did give out, essentially “breaking” my body so badly that I could not return to teaching for weeks. I had refused to go to the doctor to get an antibiotic early in an illness because it meant my students would have a substitute for one class period.
When the emergency room doctor who saw me spitting up blood told me I could not return to my classroom for weeks, something clicked. I realized that giving until you give out is not the ultimate act of unselfishness.
Self-love is because it sustains you.
For what I struggle with, suggestions for embracing self-love, and other thoughts, please go check out the whole post!
