Self-Love Saturdays | 20 Ways to Love on Yourself This Weekend

Some Saturdays are more eventful than others. Some Saturdays are filled with loads of fun and social activity to stimulate us on all levels. These Saturdays fuel us, filling our proverbial cups with the warmth, love, comradery, and excitement we need to sustain us. Then there are other Saturdays. The Saturdays in which we'd rather be left to our own devices. The week has drained us and we find ourselves depleted mentally, emotionally, physically, and maybe even spiritually. Maybe that Saturday feels like today for you.

Perhaps this week has been a rough one for you. Disappointment has hit you like a ton of bricks one too many times. Almost feels like the last blow made all the hurt flow in, nearly drowning you emotionally. It is times like these when we have to dial up our self-care so that we are able to love on ourselves a little more.

What is self-care?

According to the Oxford Dictionary, self-care is the practice of taking action to preserve or improve one's own health. The keyword here is "practice," meaning it's something we must continuously and consistently do for our overall health. That includes mentally, spiritually, physically, socially and emotionally. 

But what is self-love, then? 

Self-love is a positive regard for yourself and a way to treat yourself with the same kindness and empathy you would show someone close to you. In short, it's the positive attitude towards self you must embody in order to practice self-care in the best way.

This is why self-care and self-love go hand in hand.

So how do we apply these things realistically?

While I try to make a habit to practice a bit of self-love each week, I sometimes forget. Life gets in the way. Deadlines take precedence. Items on the social calendar become obligations. And more often than I'd like to admit, and I'm sure others can agree, I forget to add myself to my to-do list. 

So, if you've found yourself at the bottom of your to-do list more times than you'd like lately, this post is for you. It's easy to experience burnout before we realize we haven't been pouring into ourselves. But all is not lost. If you're looking for ways to practice self-care today or this weekend (and beyond), look no further.

Below is a list of 20 practical ways one can show themselves a bit of love and appreciation.

Five Ways The Comparison Trap is Killing Your Self-Esteem

I've often heard the phrase "comparison is the thief of joy." And boy, does it ring true! How many times have you witnessed the act of comparison literally steal your joy right from up under your nose?

Ever found yourself mindlessly scrolling social media and came across someone in your feed doing something amazing? Perhaps they just got a promotion or landed the job of their dreams. Maybe they just purchased a brand new car or home.  They could have even started that business they've been working towards for quite some time. And while we feel pride and offer heartfelt congratulations when our closest friends accomplish goals, oftentimes, it causes us to reflect on our own lives. 

Whether it's associates, sworn enemies, or strangers we've only connected with online, we can undoubtedly find ourselves comparing our paths to others. And with the constant access to other people's presumably perfect lives unfolding daily on our social media scroll, it's hard not to. However, if you make a habit of doing this too often, you may have fallen into the comparison trap. This never-ending loop of negative thinking will delay any real progress towards your own personal goals and ruin your self-esteem in the process, if you're not careful. 

In this post we will discuss the ways in which the comparison trap is killing your self-esteem and how to reverse it!

Blues: A Poem

The blues
I’ve been feeling lately
Don’t really come
With a specific name.
And now that I think of it,
I can’t even tell you where
They came from.

All I know is that
I was minding my own business-
Things were going
Normal enough
And they showed up
Unannounced
At my doorstep
Greeted me like an old friend
That had known me from a
Past time
And needed a safe space
To settle for the night.

REVIEW | Bloom by Brittany Travesté

Where are you in your self-love journey? And when is the last time you read something that encouraged you to BLOOM? While I feel that I have grown to love myself and everything that has shaped to be who I am, I still have a way to go. Like many of us, I still have a tendency to conceal or hide the not-so-desirable parts of myself and my past. So you would believe it had to be fate that while dealing with this very issue I would receive a book in the mail that spoke directly to my situation. Enter: Bloom by Brittany Travesté.

Self-Love Lessons from Janelle Monáe

There’s a special kind of magic that happens when a woman of color sees a positive representation of her likeness in the media. At first glance she’s in awe, enamored even. She then begins to study said woman, examining her appearance, calculating her movements, and paying close attention to how she carries herself. She watches how she communicates her thoughts, beliefs, and passions--careful to see how others respond to her presence. Next, she makes note of their similarities. See, this part of the magic is key. While many argue that comparison kills confidence, this form of comparison could very well save a life. This woman begins to see that there are others with qualities like her who are not only surviving, but thriving as well. And that if this woman can make it out here in the world, so can she.





At least that’s what I was thinking to myself when I first saw Janelle Monáe dancing across my TV screen back in 2007.

3 Keys to Creating an Effective Self-Care Plan

We're two weeks deep into 2017 and I hope everyone has been doing well so far. Along with creating new goals and resolutions for the new year, I also hope you have added self-care to your calendars and planners! And if you haven't, no worries. We're gonna take a moment to discuss creating a self-care plan right now. We're also going to make sure that plan is effective for you and doesn't just take up space in that cute new journal you bought a few weeks ago, too (I know I'm not the only one who's been grabbing up lots of pretty stationery for the new year, am I?).

The easiest thing would be to write down a self-care plan and through that alone, our healing comes right on through. Instantly, we're taking better care of ourselves and those around us. And before we know it, our skin starts glowing out of nowhere, too! But that’s just not the reality. Sometimes it’s all we can do to wake up each morning and look ourselves in the mirrors. We might be dealing with self-doubt, grief, remorse, loss, broken-hearts, you name it. But having a self-care plan in place and being intentional about following through in the best way that we can does help. Because when "life" happens, we often forget to take care of ourselves. Having a plan to refer to will help us take actionable steps on how to get on by.

Below are three major keys to creating an effective self-care plan.

Ode To The Beautiful Dreamers and Creatives

We're quirky, and cutesy, and witty, and we're proud of it. We make no apologies about who we are or what we love. We use our virtual spaces and faces to share loud voices and passions with the highest of frequencies. You may know us as bloggers, vloggers, entrepreneurs, mompreneurs, and (my favorite word) creatives.

Unboxing | The NEW Artisan Love Box

You guys know that warm and fuzzy feeling you get when the mail comes and you've gotten a package? Let's take our minds there for a minute. Now imagine that said package being a curated subscription box. You're overwhelmed with wonder and mystery because you're not quite sure of the contents just yet. And then you begin tearing away at the casing, searching for something sharp to get into those secured seams. Suddenly, you get a whiff of something warm and sweet, like someone had accidentally placed cake in your parcel. What do you do? You do like me and get into that box with the quickness! I recently received The NEW Artisan Love Box and this was my exact response to the arrival of the box. And the same intrigued, excited, then pleasantly satisfied feel I had when opening the contents has been my experience in trying the products.

The Artisan Love Box is a curated subscription box created by handmade business owners Jarmelia Ladson and Candera Thompson, featuring a quality selection of beauty + body care products. The cool thing about the Artisan Love Box is that each item included is handmade, toxic-free, and made by women with your wellness in mind.

How to Create an Inspiration Box

When is the last time you took inventory of your current goals and resolutions? I know it's been a while since I've talked about goals here on the blog. But now that we're already half-way through the year, I thought today would be a good time to speak on them again. I know everyone doesn't buy into the whole new year's resolution thing. However, I do believe everyone can benefit from writing down goals and checking progress on them as often as needed. That's why many of us create vision boards to keep us focused on them daily.

Remember on Instagram and Facebook when I told you guys I was inspired by this XO Necole article about the vision board alternative, the "create box?" Well instead of updating my vision board (which is actually a cork-board filled with pictures and affirmations), I enhanced it with a "create box" or as I like to call mine, an "inspiration box." I figured "inspiration box" would be more fitting because the images, quotes, and scriptures I have in mine inspire me to focus on my goals and purpose. Below, I will tell you how I made it.

7 Ways I Practice Self-Love Weekly

Dear Wonder Woman, how many hats are you currently wearing today? Are you the nurturer among your friends and family? Are you a mother, sister, wife, friend, confidante, employee, employer, and or entrepreneur? Chances are you have answered yes to several of these roles.  And as a woman who serves many roles in relation to others, you must make caring for YOU a top priority. A while back on the blog we discussed self-care and how important it is to have a self-care plan. But did you realize that a key component of your self-care plan involves self-love? The ways in which you practice self-love are a direct reflection on your emotional health and well-being.

So what is self-love, exactly?
Self-love is defined as the "regard for one's own well-being and happiness, chiefly considered as a desirable rather than narcissistic characteristic."

And why is it so important, again?
In order to be our best selves for those who need us most, we must take care of ourselves first. If you're running on empty, it's impossible to give a single thing to someone else.

As a WAHM, I sometimes catch myself slipping when it comes to making my emotional well-being a top priority. So for my sanity as well as my family's, I make sure to do these seven things each week to stay in-tune with self.