A little note on self love

Hello everyone! How are you are you doing today ? I would say happy weekend but it may not be weekend time when you are reading this. I hope you are having a nice day whatever day it is for you.

I am sat down tucked into the back of a coffee shop writing this on a very gloomy Saturday in early September. I know we have all said this way too many times at this point but where was our summer? The weather has felt very autumnal ever since the end of June. However I must admit I am really looking forward to getting all of my cosy autumn outfits out and wrapping up in all of my fluffy scarfs and oversized jumpers. I’m sure I can’t be the only one? Bring on all of the different shades of dark browns and outfits that hid the mid-day bloat!

Summer has never been my favourite fashion season. Spending my time trying to pull down my dresses to cover just a little but more of my thighs, opting for the long sleeve option of an outfit cause I never want to share too much arm. Stretching the tight fitted waist bands out as much as i can so that nothing sticks to my skin to show all of my lumps and bumps. That we all have by the way because we are human but no I certainly could not show mine…. I can’t being to explain the amount of summers and holidays I have let pass me by and have not enjoyed due to me being so body conscious and letting my body dysmorphia win. However i would like to think i have made a big effort this year to try and push through those persistent thoughts and feelings of my body not being good enough the way it is. Thinking i need to wait until i fit a certain size of clothing or hit a certain number on the scales before i could be seen wearing a bikini on an amazing one time holiday in Egypt. When i sit back and think of all of the moments i have missed out on just because of the way i view myself and my body it makes me very upset. But there is not much point dwelling on things i can’t change and i need to use this feeling to strive for bettering my thought process in the future. Which sort of leads me on to today’s post. I have so much i want to be working on for my own self love that I thought maybe someone, somewhere out there might be on their own similar self love journey and it might be nice for us to go down this wild road together. So please join this fun little self love club and let’s become the best versions of ourselves together.

Let’s chat all things self love and body image…. when it comes to all of this I like to think I am always there to give friends a helping hand and a boost of confidence.  But if I am honest I am not always great at taking my own advice and putting what I say into practice. 

I thought I should start by saying what I think self love is.  For me self love means loving yourself but that doesn't mean you have to love everything about yourself all the time.  I hate using the word but it’s a journey.  Self love is waking up on a morning and thinking yeah I’m pretty good me, I can do this. It’s believing in yourself through the highs and lows. It’s looking in the mirror and being kind to the reflection you see.  It’s reminding yourself everything your body does for you.  It’s being kind to yourself at the stage you are at in life at that moment in time.  It’s not comparing yourself to everyone you see online.  It’s embracing all of the good and bad.  It’s embracing the uniqueness.  Self love is picking an outfit you like and taking time to look at yourself and appreciate the small things, and not picking everything apart.  On those days you’re feeling fab it’s putting on that dress to accentuate your figure and being fine wearing the boxy over sized dress the next time you're not feeling as confident.  Self love is being kind to your body and your mind.  It’s treating yourself to the things you love and not feeling guilty.  It’s treating yourself in the kind way you treat others.  Self love is so much deeper and complex than just loving your figure.  

To quote one of my favourite musicals is being able to stand loud and clear and be able to say, THIS IS ME! And being proud of that. 

For me at least and maybe some of you can relate to me when I say there are days with and days without.  Sometimes it might even be weeks with and weeks without.  But that's ok. You can’t expect yourself to love everything about yourself 24/7 but it’s fine to give it a good old try.

I think I am going to leave that post there,  

More on this topic later. 

Moral of the story is you’re fab, you are unique, you’re you and that is your superpower. So do yourself justice and be proud of who you are.  Be bold, be brave, be you.  

Speak soon. 

Bye xx