It is Valentine’s Day. For kids, this might mean getting a sugar rush on candy that was exchanged in their classroom. For others, it might mean trying to land a big restaurant reservation. Some reject the commercialism of Valentine’s Day and think that every day should be a chance to celebrate love. Whatever you believe about Valentine’s Day, and whatever your traditions might be, I’m willing to bet that a lot of us could take a moment this Valentine’s Day for a little self-care and self-love.
Self-love isn’t just a term we throw around in the mental health field. In fact, it isn’t just for people living with a mental health condition. Self-love is important for every person. Think about it in terms of a relationship, since that is what the world likes to focus on today. For a relationship to succeed, you need to care about and do nice things for the other person. So why wouldn’t you care about and do nice things for yourself?
For example, you might let your loved one sleep in one day or bring them breakfast in bed. Don’t you deserve those things too?
And I promise that this is not coming from anything even remotely resembling a high horse. I am writing this while fighting through the fatigue that comes with not listening to my body and going to bed when I should have last night. I say this as someone who often struggles with negative self-talk instead of self-love and self-compassion. Yet this Valentine’s Day, that is something I want to recognize about myself so that I can address it and love myself more.
And I invite you to do the same.
Because like I said, we can all use a little more self-care and self-love in our lives. And in my experience, the more you love yourself, the more love you will invite into your lives from others. And we all want that for ourselves every day, not just today.
The Dark Tales Project 