loving myself

We just finished celebrating Valentine’s Day and Family Day here in BC, days that I really enjoy to celebrate our loved ones, our families, and those people that surround us. Of course we also have the unofficial holiday of Galentine’s Day on the 13th to celebrate friends as well. But today I am going to talk about loving yourself, something very important and something to not forget about.

Now everyone wants love in different ways and everyone’s way of loving themselves is going to look a little different from anyone else’s, but it is so important to recognize the things that you need and bring you joy.

One of my favourite things is my Saturday morning routine where I have a long hot bubble bath and eat cinnamon rolls. I buy Pilsbury Cinnamon Rolls and once I start the roll I freeze the rest so I have them for weeks and I know they are not the best, but they are fast and easy and make me happy. I try and do this every week, whether or not Nigel is home and really it rarely involves him at all. This week I was working on Saturday for the first time in almost a year and I set my alarm for earlier than needed so I could do this before I had to leave for work.

Another thing I do that makes me feel like I am loving myself is taking care of my plants. While I do mist and water when needed throughout the week, Sunday is my main plant care day. This is the day that I really look at how they are doing, trim or fertilize if needed, and take care of them the best I can. I find that I can’t think of anything else going on during this time and this time I spend is really a time of peace.

Now sometimes spending time loving myself isn’t a planned thing. Sometimes it realizing that I need a nap because my mind and body is exhausted, sometimes it is making boxed mac and cheese for lunch because it is a comfort food for me, and sometimes it is putting my phone in another room and watching a cheesy movie that I already know the ending of.

But those are only the things that work for me, your things may be completely different from mine.

It took me until just a few years ago to realize that these were the things that I needed and I encourage you to listen to yourself and your body and what fills you up. None of my things are big purchases, take a significant amount of time, or a lot of energy to complete, and while I do have things that check all of those boxes (because I also love my vacations, big baking projects, and fancy dinners) these are the things that I can decide to do in a moment.

So those are some of the small things I do in my life to love myself. I would love to hear in the comments what you do!