Be your damn self, but the real version please...
That was the saying I posted this week with the caption "a little sauce to say Happy Blue Monday." Sure I was feeling a little "saucy" for many personal reasons and some people might say it was because of the Blood Moon, etc. but I was also being honest in the spirit of this Self-Love/New Year-New-You theme we've been flushing out so far this month.
I feel like there is a lot of talk out there about "being yourself" and its tied to the culture of "self-love" that I was challenging 2 weeks ago. I raised the question; does the current culture of "self-love" promote selfishness or does it motivate us to be better at relationships or having a positive impact in the world?
So now I'm asking...
Does "being yourself" today foster a false self that we imagine or want the world to see us as?
I'm not assuming it does but rather I'm hoping "being yourself" means the true self we find through internal discovery. Last week I asked; can we aim for a higher place? I could of also said a deeper place. We know that Self-Discovery challenges us to dig deeper and take a hard look at things we may not like about ourselves in order to become the best or at least a better version of ourself!
So in the context of Relationships which is always our focus...it may seem like a no-brainer that; we need to be discovering more about ourselves even the flaws, especially the flaws, in order to be better with others...but even further I dare to say; if we don't get to those things sooner than later, we can never be in true relationships.
Does this sound harsh?
Real talk, if we can't recognize our faults and only focus on things that feel good then we can never change or acknowledge where we "miss the mark" on things (one definition of sin btw -just saying). On the flip side, we also need to discover things that truly bring us joy rather than fleeting happiness because those are things we want to direct our energies toward. I'm surprised how often (myself included) we spend or waste time on things that don't bring real joy.
I'm sure if you reflect you can think of things that you waste time, money, resources, etc. on that only last for a moment like drinking for one example. I'd never say don't enjoy drinks with people you consider good friends but I know for me lately I'm often disappointed and out of pocket for what really - to enhance my night?? All I'm saying is sometimes we need to put in perspective what really leads us to the best version of ourselves. All in whatever balance looks like for you of course, but only through Self-Discovery can we find it.
So in a nutshell I see it kind of see it like this...
Self-Love = a glass of wine at the end of long day, maybe a bath/hot tub, movie, etc. etc.
Self-Discovery = what about me hurts or helps my relationships, what do I really value? etc. etc.
We know need it all in order to be whole, healthy, well rounded people and hopefully all of it leads us to better relationships with others!
As always, thank you for reading, commenting & sharing.
See you next week.
Sincerely,
KK.
Comments