Celebrate Self-Love On Valentine’s Day

Samantha Garcia/Staff Writer

Last Valentine’s Day I loved him. The year before I loved her. This year, I will love me. 

Valentine’s Day is an infamous celebration in which we strive to make other people happy by buying them luxuries that we think will make them love us more. We fall into the consumer society as the mainstream media entangles us with the illusion of love. 

But at the end of the day, what do we really know about love? Countless times we have been assured that love is but a dream, yet we persist on believing that people are different. 

What people fail to realize is that loving oneself should always come before loving others. Despite this cliché, many people try to love others in order to feel loved and then be able to love themselves. 

Hailee Steinfield once said, “I love myself and I don’t need anybody else.” Spoiler Alert: The only love you will ever need is your own. If you fully loved and obsessed over yourself as much as you would a significant other, you would realize how powerful self-love is. 

You are a flower and the sunlight is your love. You try to help others blossom, but forget to indulge in the sunlight. You need to blossom. You are worth blossoming. Soak in the sunlight, stand proud and tall and feel the wind flow between your petals. Once you do, others’ love will come to you.

Although we all fantasize over Prince Charming or a Sleeping Beauty, we must remember our priorities. Love is a beautiful and mysterious adventure that nobody should fear. But your own love, health and stability should come before anybody else’s. You have to love yourself first before you can love another. 

Love shamelessly, love passionately, love the way your heart knows, but love yourself first.

So this year, I will buy the ruby-red roses and address them to me, I will buy two boxes of heart-shaped Ferrero Rocher chocolates for me, and I will indulge in chocolate-covered strawberries because I love me. 

Featured Image by Trending Topics 2019 on Flickr

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