Let me give you an example.
Over the summer I did a photo shoot for this website. But it wasn’t just a day of taking pictures. It was a month’s worth of preparation. The investment of my resources (time, energy, money), the hiring of Santa Fe’s best portrait photographer, the creative conversations with Jnny T, the shot lists, the wardrobes, the hair, the makeup, the nails, and, of course, all the radical Self care I implemented to take on such a big project. In short, I truly went for it!
On the morning of the shoot I walked in nature, praying and setting my intentions for the day. I named Trust, Courage, and Surrender as my anchors. I hoped for a fabulous and fun rapport with the photographer, gorgeous-textured skies, and a playful presence.
This is what showed up. And who I was being.
For six hours, I let go of control, radiated joyous pleasure, and allowed myself to be fully in the moment and seen by the camera.
It was amazing!
Until it wasn’t.
The morning after I woke up early with the most surprising, out-of-nowhere vulnerability hangover.
Sadness. Grief. Tears. I was feeling so much.
And while I don’t know for sure why I was sad or what I was grieving, I do know that I touched tenderness. That all of my output caused some input. That my feelings of high often come with feelings of low. That with expansion comes contraction.
I accept this.
As someone who has been Self married for five years, I choose to be in a relationship with my Self. All parts of my Self. The ones that are ugly, dark, and messy and those that are loving, wise, and beautiful.
And so …
I accepted the parts of me that ached that next day.
I loved the parts of me that ached that next day.
I tended to the parts of me that ached that next day.
Accepting, loving, and tending were, and often are, the ways I navigate through challenges. I do this on my own because I am my own beloved.
I am the one who has chosen to be in a relationship with my Self.
I am the one who soothes my Self.
I am the one who is patient, kind, and compassionate with my Self.
It isn’t the easy path, dear one, but it is the path of Self knowing. It is the path to loving thyself.
And if we are going to be with our Self for the rest of our life, we might as well make it a loving relationship.
Can you relate? Can you think of a time when you were too hard on yourself, or wished you were “different”?
If you are ready to start accepting and loving your Self today—the sweet, the sad, the beautiful, the ugly, the light, and the dark—I can help.
Love Thyself, a course in becoming the love of your life, is launching in early 2022. Want to be the first to know more about this new offering? Click here to say “I do” to you and sign up for course updates!
