12.6.21 // I want to love myself...

I want to love myself.
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I'm told to love myself.
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But when I do, I'm called selfish, self-adsorbed, or a narcissist.
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When I embrace my imperfections and share them, then I'm promoting myself, looking for external validation, or asking for commentary.
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As a woman, the messaging on how to exist and how to love yourself is conflicting, complicated, and misaligned.
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We are marketed into oblivion and told what self-love is... a bottle of wine, a face-mask, a romantic movie.
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We're not asked what self-love means to us, we are told. And when we start to examine ourselves and the inner voice that tells us what love is and that challenges the status quo, it's seen as a threat, we're told to sit back down, to fit in a box.
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A box, that we're told to decorate any way we want, but we’re never allowed to leave.