Love the Shit Outta Everything
By Patty Lowry
On this winter Monday, we break from our regularly scheduled programming to pull you out of the February blues and blahs with some inspirational, intergalactic self-love talk from Toronto-based writer Patty Lowry. Patty is an adventurer – a self-described forest-frolicking hippie who loves nature above all. For those of us experiencing the darkest winter (literally or figuratively) Patty has some words of wisdom that gave us cause for pause – and positivity.
Love the Shit Outta Everything.
Oh February. Month of oooey, gooey, drenched in fifty shades of fire engine red, putrid pink and come hither heliotrope. Enough with your saccharine infused, candy coated Hallmarkish moments of forever feverishly undying love. Can someone pass me a paper bag stat!?
Now don’t get me wrong, as a tree hugging, age of Aquarius, one love, self-aware hippie chick… I love love. Lots! But loads of life lessons and learnings have shown me that there’s no better place to start falling in love than with yourself.
What I’m talking about isn’t narcissistic, conceited or selfish…it’s self-serving. It’s about filling your cup to the rim, addressing your needs, your wants, and your wishes. It’s about making choices that serve you to be your best you.
Queue rainbow sparkles! Worlds colliding! Imagine…actually putting yourself first. Seemed like an impossible notion of grandeur but I took the “Crushin’ on Me Challenge” at the start of this new year and the results have been awesome!
It started with a choice, followed up with a simple mantra. “Love the shit outta everything.” And that meant all the easy breezy things, like a great hair day, furkids, a closet full of clothes and breathing; as well as all the OMFG ouchy, frustrating, seemingly impossible hard things…like the winter, the TTC, meanies and myself.
For starters, I choose to love my body. My 15 lb, over winter insulated body. I loved it so much I started to take care of it. Worship it in fact. Daily. Gave it a wanton cleanse to detoxify all the evils of post holiday rapture and followed up with a super steamy (vegetables), clean and healthy approach to fuelling it with favour.“
And guess what!? It started to love me back. Thanked me with amped up energy, giggly self-esteem and rekindled my affair with skinny jeans! And what happened next was even more self swoon worthy… I treated my body to a hot date with yoga three times a week. Now you want to talk about intense fervour… not only can I wear my skinny jeans, I can bend in them!!!
So now that I was moving and shaking it off T Swizzle style, I sashayed and lingered in the decadent dreamscape and powerful psyche of loving my mind. I embraced and opened my marbles to some serious heavy petting and stroking of curiosity, wonder and newfound learning. Surrounded my perception with pillars of passion – inside and out I was a vortex of imagination drawing in inspiration from nature, art, words, and re-creating my own uniquely beautiful world. Translation…I was filling up my creative cup…and asking for seconds and thirds! Love does that to you and your appetite!
Self love fills you up. Creates a sensation of satiation. Chocked full of goodies that are good for you…. good for others…and in fact, good for our world. Excited, electric charged molecules, engaged in a domino effect that creates connection, care and a pretty intense relationship with stuff that matters….like you!”
And funny thing this self love …it’s contagious. It makes you sparkle, shine and throw off pheromones of positivity. People admire you, are inspired by you and all this love is born out of the very act of loving yourself. Sounds like easy math to me!
So during this month normally devoted to groundhogs and their shadows, the blues and batty-eyed wuffers, let’s stir up the love pot and cast a spell on ourselves.
Own your loveableness.
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