the intercontinental cuddle puddle.

what’s love got to do, got to do with it? yes i am quoting the Tina Turner song. well i’ve learned that love has got to do with EVERYTHING. it’s what motivates us, drives us, pushes us, empowers us, strengthens us…simply what LOVES us. and it does not have to be the ‘traditional love’ that we all think about dominantly. couples hand holding, buying flowers all that jazz. that’s wonderful and all but I think the most traditionally forgotten love is the most important of all and that’s with yourself. ALSO the love that you have in your relationships like your best friends, you mom, dad, sister, cousin, hairdresser, dog. WHATEVER. celebrate all of these on valentine's day, and also every day!

i have always known it to be true that you cannot love anyone else or accept any other kind of love until you love yourself. and I couldn’t agree more. be in love with the way you smile, obnoxiously laugh, bump into things, your quirks, your style, your humor. be in love with you. and everything that you are in this present moment. be in love with the fact that we are constantly changing which means we are growing.

it took me a long time to learn to be in love with myself and honestly i am still learning. not to say that i did not love myself. i just based my self-love off of how i made others feel. most of my life I spent worrying about how my every action and ensuring that it would have a positive impact on everyone around me. i did not care about how I felt, as long as I ensured that everyone else felt good. then I convinced myself that I was great because I made so many other people feel great, that’s all that mattered. only in the past couple years did i truly learn that how you treat yourself is how others will treat you. the energy that you give off into the universe will be exactly what you get in return.

but HEY, better now than never. every day more than ever before in my life i am taking time to press pause and have delicious, selfish me time. and I couldn’t be more happy about it! a person in my life that has always been a huge advocate for some splendid me time is my soul sista Anagha Bharadwaj. she has always taught me to take pleasure in doing anything and everything by yourself. sometimes it's even more fun when you do things alone! no one to consult with, no timetable to adhere to, no one to worry about displeasing! as we have been friends for five years now i liked to say that she has seen a lot of growth in that department within me, and I can definitely attribute a lot of this growth due to her constant love and encouragement!

we have both started blogging and decided to do 2 weeks of blogs taking turns every other day to talk about life and all the things we enjoy within it!

happy post-Valentine’s day! now go get that discounted candy, aka my favorite holiday tradition. :)

#loveselflovebloggingbestfriend