Thoughts

Love Yours

It’s hard, isn’t it, to truly love yourself in a world that is so fixated on your body parts, the way you should look, talk, walk, dress. In a world that is bent on defining you.

The beauty industry is worth billions of dollars globally, a lot of it built on our insecurities with one or more parts of our body. They set up a standard and say “look, this is what you should aspire to.” You say “what nonsense! I’m not about that life.” But then these messages don’t stop; they creep up on you until one day, you wake up and everything about your body is exactly everything you do not want.

It is no wonder then, that a lot of people are on an unending race for approval of self from other people. Look, are my eyes beautiful? Do you think I’m tall enough? Is my body curvy like a woman’s? Am I pretty enough?

It’s Valentine’s Day today. Maybe your singleness has been wrapped in tattered coverings that make it appear as undesirability. Perhaps you have been convinced by the world and somehow have managed to convince yourself that being single means there is something inherently wrong with you. Is it because you’re not beautiful enough? Or is it that you lack wit?

The voices rise into a crescendo in your head. Like someone in a trance, you pick up your phone and dial that number. You call that person, and you make plans to meet. That person, the one you swore you would have nothing to do with. It’s the same one who constantly redefines who you are…and not in a good way.

Stop.

Mirabel Centre, a non-profit organization that works with rape and sexual assault victims, found from their statistics, that more clients are received by their centre in the month of February. In February 2018 alone, they had 103 visitors.

Love is beautiful. The right kind of love with the right person will reach deep inside of you and bring light to the places you didn’t even know needed them. The right kind of love will convince you there are wings attached to your back, even though they are not visible. And you will believe it enough that you will spread your arms, as if to spread those wings and fly.

The right kind of love can come from anyone. The right kind of love does not need the prefix of ‘romantic’ to be validated.

Love yours; love who you are. Love yourself so deeply that your very soul rejects any kind of love that doesn’t add to you. Love yourself so fiercely that you will keep the door closed on the people who broke you and are unrepentant about it. Love yourself so genuinely that the people who are around you, and those who want to be around you, take a cue in how they should love you.

Nothing is wrong with you. Look around at your family, your friends, the little boy who thinks you’re the coolest ever and just see how much love is around you.

Order roses if you like them; I do think they look nice too. Order a love hamper, watch Netflix and chill, take your friends out to a dinner, just you guys. Or sleep; it’s a valid option too.

Whatever you do, show yourself that you matter in the decisions you make about your life. We don’t want to increase the numbers at Mirabel’s Centre this year, do we?

You matter. Every single day that the sun shines on this earth, you, you matter.

I create worlds with words. I think the universe is a canvass, and I want to paint it with the color of my dreams.

6 Comments

  • Lara

    Love doesn’t have to be the romantic type. I felt that.
    Sometimes, we know these things, but a little reminder has never hurt anyone.
    Thank you.❤❤❤

  • Chidera

    For every time I read a piece by you, I always think about the message, but then I really smile, an internal kind of smile, at how beautifully you create worlds with words. It’s your promise you’ve kept.

    “The right kind of love will convince you there are wings attached to your back, even though they are not visible “. This sentence is surely a highlight for me. And the message, Love Yours – love me, I’ll strive better to practice.

    A necessary message on a day we really need to be reminded. Well done, Tawakalit.

  • Jeremy

    Another beautiful piece Jade, you sure have a way with words.
    Love comes in different faces, what is key is being able to recognize and embrace it in whatever form it chooses to appear to each individual and ofcourse, self love is the first piece of the puzzle. That is what helps put the rest of the picture together.

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