Self-love – a term that’s becoming more and more common on social media as we talk about our mental health more than ever. Often the love of a self is confused with egoism or even narcissism – but it is exactly the opposite. Because self-love means accepting yourself with all your strengths and weaknesses and responding to yourself and your needs. It’s not about being in love with yourself every day, but rather about taking care of yourself and treating yourself with love.
Self love gives us the strength we need
Loving ourselves also gives us the strength to deal constructively with our mistakes and to reflect on them. Interpersonal relationships also change because with a healthy dose of inner love we are less dependent on other people. We don’t need validation or affection to feel lovable because we know and can appreciate our own worth. Many psychologists are convinced that self-love forms the basis for feeling true love for your fellow human beings at all.
Finding self love
Self-love, and therefore the ability to be empathetic with yourself, is the basic building block for happy well-being. But how do we achieve this love? Accepting one’s own weaknesses in particular seems unimaginable in the digital world full of perfection. Be it the aesthetic Instagram posts or all TikTok trends of self-optimization, we constantly compare social media with our own lives. A fatal mistake – because the social networks are not the reality.
Author Chiara Maiorino creates a safe place for feelings and thoughts
However, the author Chiara Maiorino does not present her online community with a flawless world, but shares her vulnerable side and all her insecurities on Instagram and TikTok. Her poems about feminism, self-love and mental health are going viral on social media because they provide a safe space for genuine feelings and thoughts. With her new book “Denk Mal Laut: Strengthening Poetry for Compassion and Reflection”, the young writer invites you to exchange ideas and creates a place without comparison and artificial perfection and will be available on September 7th, 2023.
Sources used: aok.de, dak.de, barmer.de, instyle.de