Three Things You Love About Yourself (& Three Things I Love About Myself)

As a woman, sometimes I feel like it's my job to dislike myself. The magazines photoshop stars, the movies promote unrealistic personalities and sexualization, and the "politician" Trump creates a rating scale for women.

Here's how to find things you love about yourself:

1. Pick something physical about yourself. I imagine this is the hardest part for many women, but pick something. If you're feeling stuck, ask your partner what attribute first attracted them to you. If you don't have a partner, pick something you know you get complimented on (e.g. your smile or your hair). If you're still not comfortable admiring your own natural beauty, pick something you work really hard on (e.g. your eyebrows or your fingernails or your posture or your muscles). 

2. Choose one thing you're proud of in your past. Is there a project you showed perseverance through? Do you have a history of seeking friendship with people who feel unlovable? Did you throw an awesome party and show off your skills at cooking/hosting/cleaning? Zero in on what helped you in those accomplishments (never gives up, defender of the downtrodden, ultimate home-maker). Or even more simply, let the accomplishments be what you like (project completer, friend maker, party thrower). 

3. Focus in on a task you enjoy doing, and pinpoint what characteristic comes out when you are your best self. If you love piano, maybe it's your creativity, or attention to detail, or emotional connection that makes you your best self. If you love giving gifts, maybe it's your generous spirit or your ability to infer people's wants and needs. If you love listening to friends and/or giving advice, maybe it's your patience, humility, wisdom, or humor. What trait emerges most when you're being your best self?

Without further ado,

Three Things I Love About Myself

1. I like my stature. Like, the general build of my body. I like my height and my shoe size and my torso:leg ratio. I've only ever fell into self-consciousness over little details of my body, not the whole general thing. 

2. I like my education. It seems to be the only difficult thing I've ever earned in life. Sure I've earned money too but it all goes towards dumb stuff like groceries and rent and concert tickets. I haphazardly picked my schools but I think Agnes Scott and Belmont helped make me into a more compassionate person. I actually use my degrees every day, which makes it feel worthwhile. 

3. I like my creative side. I always have some side project brewing in my mind, keeping me entertained. Most of my wild ideas never come to fruition (e.g. Paige and I planned an hour-long Taylor Swift impersonation comedy act / sing along that we never performed...) but I think I'm my best self when I'm letting my imagination find new projects (like this blog). At any given moment I have three or four creative projects whirring in my mind. Right now it's: hand-making a calendar/planner, quilling, and printing tee shirts that say HufflePunk.


What are your three things? Leave a comment!