self-love
Everyone talks about self-love these days, but what does it actually mean?
For me, truly understanding self-love meant reconnecting with my inner child. As children, we naturally accept ourselves. We cry, we laugh, we set boundaries (remember the “no!” phase?), we’re trusting, bold, and unapologetically ourselves. We don’t see flaws — we simply are. It’s only through social conditioning and the development of the analytical mind, that we start to critique ourselves and shrink into neat little “acceptable” boxes.
That’s why self-love isn’t just a spa day, eating a healthy meal, or putting on a face mask. Those things are lovely, but real self-love is much deeper: it’s about shifting how you see yourself. It’s choosing to see yourself more accurately — with compassion, appreciation, and authenticity — rather than through the distorted lens of comparison and outside expectations.
The most effective way I’ve found to cultivate genuine self-love is through a simple two-step practice:
Reconnect with your inner child. Find photos of yourself as a child and create a small vision board. Each day, close your eyes for five minutes and imagine what life felt like in those years of playfulness and acceptance. Really reconnect with that pure, unconditioned self.
Practice daily appreciation. Every day, write down things you like and appreciate about yourself — both your appearance and your personality. No detail is too small.
Do this consistently for a year, and you’ll notice a profound shift. As you grow in kindness and appreciation for yourself, life itself begins to flow with more ease. The more you choose yourself, the more the world reflects that love back to you.