For many college women, the idea of “self-love” is a foreign concept. Often, the days are filled with term papers, multiple exams, and caffeine induced headaches. During the busy semester, there’s a lot of pressure to try to please everyone. You want to do well to impress your professors, your peers, and your parents. Between work-study jobs, internships, and homework, it’s easy to become overwhelmed quickly.
Loving yourself gives you the ability to love others fully, be that your significant other, your roommate, or your family members. By showing yourself love, you make it easier to give your best self to the ones you love most. Making yourself a priority is difficult at first, but it is absolutely necessary. You can take time to love yourself each day in many ways. For some people, that might mean grabbing a latte from the barista every morning before class (until your flex runs out at least!). For others, self-love means getting lunch with friends, and having a laugh in between work shifts. I asked friends what self-love means to them, and how they show themselves affection every day:
“Self-love means loving every aspect of you, even on your worst days. It’s embracing your flaws and imperfections, because those are what makes you different from everyone else. I am a huge advocate of body positivity…I show myself love everyday by looking in the mirror and pointing out the features I love the most. Then I work my way to the parts that I don’t like, and show them extra love everyday.” –Samantha Sluggar, C’18
“if I ever have a moment where I get really down on myself, I know I can always count on the love and support of my friends. They always know how to cheer me up, and remind me that I have to love and accept myself as I am. They show me unmeasurable love and support every day, but they also remember to love themselves, and that’s something that I really admire about them.” –Mariana Kuo, C’18
Self-love is not selfish. Making yourself a priority, and saying no when life gets overwhelming, simply means you are putting yourself first- and that is totally okay. Taking time for yourself everyday helps you to connect with your body and mind, and ultimately, with others.