So this is a little journey of how I learned that the concept and practice of Self-Love is personal. For months I shared Self-Care Sunday post on my Instagram page, which consisted of potential self-care ideas that others could try out. However, the more I practiced self-care and self-compassion, I realized that an intentional once a week focus on self-care just wasn’t enough. Time went on, and as I started to dig deep within myself and evolve, I realized that my needs (as it related to self-care) were constantly changing.

For example, I had a morning routine, which I’ve had for several years, however, when I’d wake up some days I’d need things that I didn’t require the day before. And some days I wasn’t feeling the things I had done the prior day. Then there were periods where I would continue my morning routine, but it felt like a chore. And not just any chore, but the kind of the chore that you keep putting off, and so it takes forever to complete.

But one day it hit me— I was evolving as a spiritual being, and not just in that season, but I was constantly and quickly evolving. I had witnessed myself evolve and develop over the years, but this seemed like from moment to moment, and other times, day to day—- I was just CHANGED. It was exciting and made me super curious. As I had been practicing mindfulness for some time, I made it a necessity to pay extra attention to myself; I became sensitive to the changes that were occurring. I made myself the subject of my own special project.

The biggest changes involved taking care of myself in a deeper and more intentional way. Specifically, my higher self lead me to the concept of the practice of self-love. Although self- love was not a foreign concept, I had not thought much about it. To be honest, I had no idea what true self-love was. In a general sense, I saw it as being kind and loving to yourself—- but what did that mean, how does that work, and what was that “supposed” to look like?

I’m a questioner and I love learning, so I made this prompting by my spirit into an experiment. The first thing I did was a google search “what is self-love.” And as I read the different viewpoints, looked up the term in the dictionary, and even came across it in the books I was reading… I realized very quickly that what self-love was—- was up to interpretation. Yes, at its foundation, self-love was unconditional self-acceptance and self-compassion. But how in the world would someone develop those two practices?

I am a believer that we are all interconnected, at the same time, we are on this plane with a unique soul purpose and therefore we have different needs. Keeping this in mind, I decided that it would be best for me to determine what self-love meant for me (personally). And with that, I did a deep dive into the concept of self-love where I dissected what self-love comprised of and how those ingredients were to be cultivated.

At the start of my research, I mentioned the concept of unconditional self-love to my therapist, who had her own unique opinion of it, specifically questioning whether self-love could really be unconditional?? Man, this was exciting. This concept of self-love and its limit or limitless ability was up in the air. Which reminded me that it really was personal. My therapist viewpoint wasn’t unheard of, as others had shared similar viewpoints through their blogs and platforms. But I kept in mind that, at the end of the day, we view life as we are, not as it truly is.

So as the perspectives, definitions, and understandings varied, it was clear to me that none were right or wrong; they were personal. So instead of just taking someone else’s opinion of self-love and declaring it my own, I decided to make it personal. I did the research, put practices into play, and having spent months on mindfulness, compassion, and self-care, I thought about you! I thought about how so many of us are attempting to practice self-care, and maybe on a larger scale, self-love, according to what it looks like for everyone else. According to what we are told self-love and self-care should look like. Then I wondered: how many of us have actually taken the time to realize that this is all very much personal? Self-care is personal. Self-love is personal. Your spiritual practice is personal. It’s all about you… SELF!

And with my own experience and these questions in my head, I wanted to start a conversation with men and women about self-love (which will lead to the mention of self-care). First off, I love LOVE. The practice of love has changed my life. I believe that love is powerful and it changes things; not just internally, but externally. 

And when we have the information and knowledge to be intentional in our pursuit of creating a loving and compassionate relationship with ourselves, we can decide how to go about it. We can decide the tools to use that feel authentic to us and which really levels us up. When we implement these tools, every area of our life gets blessed and impacted. Further than that, not just our lives are impacted, but the life of all those we encounter— it gets REAL!

And with all this said, I have some questions I want to kick off to you:

1.  What is self-love to you?
2.  Why is it important (or not important)?
3.  How can you cultivate more self-love in your life?
4.  How and why being passive about your self-love can limit you showing up in your personal power?

Maybe you don’t have the answers to those questions, maybe you do! Either way… I’ve created a space for us to come together and discuss TRUE Self-Love virtually. On Sunday, September 9, 2018, at 6 PM EST, I am hosting a live webinar about True Self-Love where I share:

• My vision of True Self-Love and how it has evolved for me over this past year.
• What True Self-Love look like
• 5 Misconceptions about Self-Love
• How getting intentional about self-love can positively transform how you experience life.

In addition, I’ve carved out extra time for questions and a discussion from attendees. Because your self-love practice is PERSONAL, I want this experience to be for you, so it includes your voice.

Click the link and register… I am looking forward to making this conversation PERSONAL.

xx,

Charliie

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