Last month, the Celebrate Link-Up was successful, so I wanted to implement a monthly feature. This month, we’re talking about self love! I asked my friends and fellow bloggers if they’d be interested in joining me, and I hope you’re able to get a good feel for what self love can mean by reading multiple perspectives. If you have an applicable post, please feel free to join in with your link at the bottom of this post. Then jump around and spread your love to fellow participants.

Self love can be just as weird as it is important. It can be difficult to talk about the things we love about ourselves, as it may feel boastful or narcissistic, or maybe just because we can’t think of anything. It’s incredibly important that you’re able to think of things that you love and appreciate about yourself. While overcoming the fear of being full of yourself is tricky, I’d much rather that be your issue than honestly not feeling love for yourself.

If you’re worried about seeming narcissistic, then I have good news. That’s the goal of today! This whole group is talking themselves up, and we want you to, too! Imagine you’re Super(wo)man and you’re writing a kick-ass resume. You’ve got this. Everyone already knows you’re wonderful qualities, but we need YOU to tell us firsthand!

And if you’re thinking and can’t figure out anything that seems great about you, I’m going to tell you a story. At my old job, I worked with adults with severe mental illnesses. Many of these people have been battling symptoms of schizophrenia and various mood disorders for decades, and as you might imagine, that can really take a toll on your self esteem. One of our goals, as rehab specialists, was to boost their self image and confidence. I remember one day, we were doing an activity called “Laughter Yoga” (which is really interesting and fun), and we had to get our partners to smile and laugh by doing various things. My partner had the worst time trying to smile. It was like his face muscles had forgotten how to do it. I worked with him, and he was able to smile after a lot of effort. Obviously, that’s incredibly heart breaking, but that’s not the end of the story. On another day, I was facilitating a self esteem activity, and I spoke with him one-on-one. At first he wasn’t able to think of anything he liked about himself. Without suggesting anything specific, I encouraged him to really think about himself, his life, and his experiences. He was able to list three things. One was a physical attribute, one was a skill, and one was a hobby he had. I was so happy for him.

My point is that even someone who has forgotten how to smile has the ability to recognize the good in themselves. Which means that you definitely can do this!

I’ll start. I love that I:

celebrate as much as I can

leave glitter wherever I used to be

have an appreciation for animals

don’t worry about my outfits matching

have good rhythm

give gifts so often

am “that girl” with the camera

overcame so many of my fears

dance everywhere

am hopelessly optimistic

See? It’s not hard. Your turn!

I made a giant red paper heart for the picture above, but then I decided to write a self affirmation on it and stick it to my wall. This is what I want myself to remember:

[I can’t talk about self love without mentioning the Queen, Gala Darling. She’s written a large amount of content on this topic, that I’m positive you can find useful.]

I wish for you the ability to love yourself with ease, not only today, but always.

Tweet it: I am brilliant and wonderful. I love myself for who I already am!

1. Erica 2. Caylee 3. Miss Limboo 4. Marielle 5. Kitty Cat Stevens 6. Candace 7. Carly 8. Michelle 9. Kristin 10. chewytulip 11. TARAdactyl