Mental Health
Mind
5 Stories Of Self-Love To Inspire You This Valentine’s Day!
February 14th, 2021 at 3:51 am
With love comes hate, even on Valentine’s Day. You’re either all for the love-fest, celebrating it with your special someone, or against it – rolling your eyes at every heart-shaped reminder. Despite what many people believe, you don’t have to be in a romantic relationship to embrace a day dedicated to love. Celebrate your friends, your family, and even yourself! After all, the most important relationship you’ll ever have is the one with yourself.
We tend to shy away from self-love because we’re afraid of coming off as vain, but as self-care becomes normalised (finally!), self-love is becoming the new #relationshipgoals. Shower yourself with the same love you give others! Make it rain because love isn’t just for those with someone to love. Even if you are in a relationship, loving yourself can help you be a better partner and set healthy boundaries.
Kickstart your self-love journey this Valentine’s Day with stories from these inspiring individuals!
- Bay Doucet
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“Self-love is so important because you can’t pour from an empty cup. I believe to truly be able to love and care for others, we have to first love and care for ourselves. I think self-love is also important so that we don’t seek validation and affirmation from external sources. You are complete on your own, and truly loving yourself eliminates a lot of the unnecessary expectations we tend to put onto our romantic partners.”
Bay Doucet is Instagram’s ‘Self-Care Sweetheart’! Her calming, aesthetic, fun-filled feed showcases the graphic designer genuinely expressing herself, and documenting her life as a content creator, model and writer as well. What we love about Bay is that she always keeps it real, especially on her Instagram Stories where she shares her honest feelings and the truth about self-care.
What are 5 things you love about yourself?
- My empathy for others.
- My ability to be vulnerable in spaces where it’s not always welcomed.
- My acceptance for the way I look – without makeup, filters or editing.
- How I find joy in the simple things.
- How I’m interested in a lot of different topics and am always looking to learn new things.
When did you start you self-love journey?
- I think I unintentionally began my self-love journey when I was in high school. I’ve struggled with depression and anxiety since my teen years, and that sparked an interest in being more self-aware and conscious about the way I was taking care of myself. Forming unhealthy romantic relationships early on in life taught me that no one comes into your life to ‘complete’ you– if I couldn’t learn to truly love myself, I would never feel like the love from another person was enough.
How do you practice self-love?
- There are many different ways we can practice self-love. It can be something easy and relaxing, like putting on a face mask, taking a long hot shower, treating myself to a good meal. It can also be more difficult things, like finally signing up to see a therapist to talk through things that you’re struggling with, ending a toxic relationship or admitting your flaws to yourself so you can work on being better.Ways I practice self-love daily are through taking time in the day to ask myself, “What do you need right now?”. Sometimes the answer is some me-time, taking a walk, making a big glass of iced tea, or calling a friend to catch up. Long-term ‘self-love’ things I’m working on right now are improving my financial literacy, forming better work habits and learning how to say “no”.
Connect with Bay on Instagram where she shares her favourite local brands, cat-mom life and other daily musings!
- Hikmah Razlan
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“Self-love is important because to be the best, in anything, we have to love ourselves first. Other people can’t always help us when we’re in difficult situations – sometimes in life we will only have ourselves.”
We were first captivated by Hikmah Razlan when she was featured as one of the beauties in BeauTyra’s campaign. The model turned content creator uses her social media feed for good – inspiring confidence and compassion in others with her bright smile and positive attitude. What we love about Hikmah is the heartfelt letters she writes to herself in her captions, proving that when you’re your biggest fan, no one can bring you down!
What are 5 things you love about yourself?
- How happy-go-lucky I am
- My confidence
- My strong leadership style
- My strength
- My unique smile
When did you start you self-love journey?
- When others kept leaving me out even though I didn’t do anything wrong. From there, I slowly learned to love myself first. I did this to prove to those who made me angry or sad that what they did to me is now my source of strength.
How do you practice self-love?
- I do whatever will make me happy, and also try to make others feel good about themselves.
Follow Himkah on Instagram for product reviews and all-round good vibes!
- Catherhea Teoh
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“When you love yourself, you start wanting better for yourself, and you make better choices for yourself. You advocate for your needs and boundaries, which empowers you as an individual to not only show up for yourself, but for others too.”
You’ve probably come across one of Catherhea Teoh‘s powerful portraits on social media. The photographer and activist is known for capturing the beauty of diversity and directing the spotlight on underrepresented communities in Malaysia (she even won an MTV EMA award for this!). What we love about Catherhea is her dedication to growth – she actively shares what she’s learning, unlearning and relearning on her Instagram Stories.
What are 5 things you love about yourself?
- My ability to pluck wisdom from the universe anytime I want.
- How I’m easily loved by some of the most insanely amazing people I’ve met.
- The way people feel comfortable enough to express their authentic selves to and around me – unprompted.
- How I’m able to transmute my own pain into fuel for art or something that can enhance people’s lives.
- My ability to materialise my intentions and ideals with ease.
When did you start you self-love journey?
- I think love is a bit of a strong word for me to use right now. I’m still learning to be okay with myself. It’s always been a sporadic effort, but I made a conscious decision after shaving my head in December 2020. Kinda extreme, but I had to make sure that I had no choice but to challenge my insecurities head-on. (Pun might have been intended here!)
How do you practice self-love?
- By taking chances at anything that might make me happier and / or add value to my life. I feel like, the more I do this, the more I can genuinely feel deserving of happiness. The outcome doesn’t always matter either – the fact is I did that, advocated for my needs, expressed my authentic self, and I’ll do it again. It’ll take a lot more practice before I get used to it, and I can’t wait to get there.
If you’re looking for a photographer or content creator, check out Catherhea’s ‘MCO’ promotion here – it’s specially designed for small business owners!
- Jeslinda Paul
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“In a society where everyone wants you to be someone you are not, cultivating self-love gives you the courage to be authentically and unapologetically you.”
Jeslinda Paul is on a mission to bring awareness towards the disabled in Malaysia by sharing her recovery and self-love journey! The model and Persons With Disabilities advocate is not afraid to be herself on social media, reminding everyone how special they are through her Instagram posts. What we love about Jeslinda is how empowering her feed is to help others feel just as strong and confident as she does.
What are 5 things you love about yourself?
- My confidence – I believe it’s so sexy!
- My boldness in showing up and speaking my mind.
- My way of embracing differences of others and mine through my growth mindset.
- My assertiveness.
- My empathy towards others.
When did you start you self-love journey?
- My self-love journey started after my first ever breakup. The breakup completely broke me and instead of wallowing in self pity and playing the victim, I worked hard on myself internally. Self-love gave me the courage to rebuild my broken pieces again, and to keep choosing myself because I have always believed that until you choose to love yourself unconditionally, you can never love another wholeheartedly – because you can never pour from half a cup or an empty cup. Everything starts with you, within you, and that includes self-love.
How do you practice self-love?
- By choosing myself over and over again. By saying no when I dont feel like I am at my best. By standing up for myself unapologetically. By showing up as myself authentically. I continuously practice self-love by focusing on my mental health, emotional health and physical health through exercise, mindful eating, meditation, yoga, breathwork, and choosing the right environment around me – including people and space.
For more content on self-love, mindfulness and gratitude, follow Jeslinda on Instagram!
- Von Chong
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“Self-love gives me courage and confidence. It is also an act of self-respect, appreciation and acceptance. When I truly love myself, I no longer care about what others talk about me or how they see me. I’m the only one that matters. It makes me happier and healthier.”
Von Chong‘s been taking TikTok by storm with her fashion-forward looks! The content creator shares her confidence, advice, and daily adventures on social media to empower others and herself. What we love about Von is how welcoming she is, making her the ultimate TikTok bestie and go-to for Instagram fashion inspo!
What are 5 things you love about yourself?
- My spirit of determination – I’m so thankful that I never gave up on content creating.
- My style – I live in my style, it’s part of me.
- My positive mindset – I believe in the law of attraction.
- My passion – my passion for fashion has brought me the results I have today.
- My high EQ – I’m the kind of person who can handle their emotions perfectly.
When did you start you self-love journey?
- I started to realize my worth after graduating from high school. My self-esteem was very low back then due to peer pressure. I always thought that I was not good enough and I wanted to be like someone else. I used to prioritise others instead of myself because I was afraid of being outcasted. However, my life changed after I graduated and was put in a completely new environment. I finally saw myself clearly. I started to accept my flaws andembrace them. I attempted to dress up, do my makeup, and did everything to makemyself feel better. Finally, I did it! I always believe that beauty isn’t about how you look or what clothes you put on, it’s the power of self-love that you makes you attractive and shine.
How do you practice self-love?
- I always listen to my inner-self, my mind and my body. I give myself a breakwhen I feel exhausted. I treat myself with cake or my favourite donut when Iaccomplish a task that is worth celebrating. I listen to my body and pauseworking out for a day when I feel unmotivated. I don’t force myself intodoing things that I don’t feel like doing at that moment. Besides that, Ialso try my best to take better care of my skin, stay hydrated, eat cleanand have enough sleep. My health is everything.
Follow Von on Instagram and TikTok for style advice and fashion inspiration!
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