Bloom Discussions: Self Love

I started a wonderful course called Bloom this week and wanted to dedicate today’s post to sharing some of the wisdom that I picked up on- I feel it’s truly invaluable life advice. This isn’t what you hear at school and doesn’t fit into a curriculum. This is self guided knowledge that comes only from experience. The course runs for two months and was created by Kaitlin Howitt.

There’s about twenty three of us Bloom Girls this time around. In the first intake, there was over a hundred which is positively mind boggling. I see this as a great opportunity to make like minded friends. Kaitlin is a gorgeous soul and I’m so lucky to have this opportunity to benefit from what she’s learnt. The course is paid and for this reason I can’t share any video from it. However, I took the time to write down lots of notes which is what you’ll be seeing here. For brevity and ease of reading, they will be shortened to be succinct.

It extends further than a hot bath or early bedtime. It’s something deeper- a commitment to self. Self Love is something that we are born with, in fact. when we’re little, we adore ourselves. We look at our reflections with curiosity, not hate and negativity. So, what changed? As we grow older, we forget what self love feels like. We lose our self honour and nurturing nature. We think we always lacked self love when in fact, it is deeply ingrained within. At our core, we knew Self Love and the places it resides, especially on our good days when we feel most connected to our life energy. We need to do all that is within our power to hold onto this. The truth is that we already epitomise the purest form of love. Our responsibility is to show up and be that every day. To actively choose it and reflect our inner love onto the world. It isn’t the love that’s lacking but more so the actions that show it. After all, words that aren’t backed up by positive actions fall flat. They hold no power and meaning.

As children, we create our own belief system. In our solar system, the world and all its people revolve around us and further our case. As we grow up however, we are forcibly pushed out of first place and no longer hold the spotlight all day every day. When you cease to be a child and enter adulthood, you are resisting the urge to matter the most. Instead, you must have the interests of yourself, family and your community in mind at all times. This is the role you naturally slip into when at work or acting in a way that is of service to another. We walk around striving to be versions of ourselves that exist only in our imagination. We need to reframe perfection as nothing more than a mere illusion. We are all imperfect. That suggests nothing of us except that fact. Yes, it is difficult to go against what you’ve been programmed to believe from a young age but it is worth it.

       Do I feel safe? Do I feel stable?

       Do I feel inspired and creative?

       Do I feel open to receive? Do I feel loved?

        Do I feel happy? Do I feel excited? Do I feel good?

When you begin to live in alignment, what is no longer fitting for you will begin to fall away. This is not an experience of loss but a way for newer and better things to have a place when they enter your life. If you don’t feel good about something, it likely isn’t meant to be. Trust your intuition. It holds you together and keeps you safe from harm. When you say no to something, you’re saying yes to what is truly right for you. Likewise, when you say yes to something, you’re saying no to what isn’t right for you.