Loving Yourself First

Last week, a fellow employee shared a poem with me. It's all about loving yourself and putting yourself before all your other loved ones in your life because yourself loves you unconditionally and needs your attention from time to time. I would like to share it with you...

Love After Love

by Derek Walcott

The time will come

when, with elation

you will greet yourself arriving

at your own door, in your own mirror

and each will smile at the other's welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.

You will love again the stranger who was your self.

Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart

to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored

for another, who knows you by heart.

Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,

peel your own image from the mirror.

Sit. Feast on your life.

I love the idea of recognizing yourself and even saying "hi" once in a while. Reflecting on myself, I do feel like a stranger sometimes, as if I don't have enough time to really get to know who I am.

My favorite part reads, "Give back your heart to itself, to the stranger who has loved you all your life, whom you ignored for another, who knows you by heart." Wow! Such powerful words. Sometimes we get so caught up in the idea of romantic love and the unconditional love that exists between parent and child that we forget about the adoration that we should have for ourselves first. After all, myself is the one that has always been here, undeterring, unconditionally in love with who I am.

So why do I not pay myself more attention? I'm not talking about treating myself to a fancy spa date, but actually recognizing the self that's inside of me and all the capabilities and talents that are kept so bottled up because of the busy world we live in.

Last night I went to the mall, just a simple trip taken all by myself. I'm the kind of person that enjoys being around others and would have loved to have had someone join me but the way it turned out I was alone walking from store to store...and I liked it. I did what I wanted to do with no one to answer to or no coversations filling the air surrounding me--it was just me and my thoughts.

I was having a conversation with the hubby on Saturday and we were talking about how much we really enjoy spending time with one another, how we would rather do something together than alone. This is true, but I must say that by constantly being with him I have made myself a perpetrator of ignoring myself for another. It's not that I want to spend less time with him, it's just that I need to spend more time with just myself.

It's easy to overlook yourself and "let yourself go" as the saying goes. So from now on I will try to greet myself, treat myself, be in love with me and "feast" on who I am. And I encourage you to do the same.

DIY Anyone?: Part 1

Inspired by my dear friend Amy's blog and her "do-it-yourself" attitude and this blog that my sister, B, recently escorted me to, I decided to take matters into my own hands and spruce up some things around my home.

I'm starting small but it's a very big step for me. I'm the kind of person that would rather buy it off the shelf than take time to make it. Because I'm rich right?...haha...yea right!

We recently planted some herbs and I wanted to make some cute name tags for them.

What you'll need:

Indoor/outdoor stain (approx. $12)

1 small paintbrush (approx. $1)

Marker (approx. $1)

Paint stirrers (FREE)

I had some leftover stain from another project. I couldn't decide between the black with silver marker or clear with gold marker so they are both pictured. And I eventually went with the clear and gold.

Using your marker of choice, write the names of your herbs on the paint stirrers. Make sure your stain is well shaken and apply an even coat on all sides of the stirrers. Let dry for at least one hour and apply another coat. Let it dry again and decide if you want to add another for a more intense gloss or leave it as it is. I applied three coats to mine.

After the stirrers have completely dried, voilà!, you have your own handmade herb labels.

It was so easy and fun! You should try it.