Today I realized I've been actively investing in my hopes, dreams and gifts for a year through radical "self-love." It's not trite, shallow or selfish. It's not heretical or vain. The scriptures say "love your neighbor as you love yourself" but they were written by men with men in mind. And men haven't been taught to sacrifice their souls minds and bodies for society because of their gender. And no one should.
Women, to love your neighbor as yourself, you have to start with just the last part of that verse and love yourself to then love your neighbor free and clear. This is faithfulness. This, too, is prayer.
Women have been exiled from their temples. Our bodies are temples we've never known.
We've been exiled from the faith narrative and our sexuality (by being over-sexualized or slut-shamed). Our self-trust was lost as we were written out of the heroes journey. Now, we are coming back. We are doing the scholarship that leads to answers that have been lost for a long time. Answers that show who we were meant to be.
Well I decided to rebuild this temple. It didn't all happen at once. It started with simply loving myself as much as I wanted everyone else to. Now I can honestly say that I feel that love for myself like I would for my own child.
This. Is. Possible.
I am for hire to walk you through this process. But I can't and won't give it away. It's ok to be mad at what's been stolen from you. But you aren't going to get it back without a fight because you have to decide you're worth the fight. You may not have to pay a soul to support you in this process. But please start it one way or another.
My trainer has been an investment I've made in my journey to recovering. I paid her to help me with one part - movement. A big one for my mental and physical health. A big one for hurdling trauma with a now-healed, patient mindset. Not shame. Reasons and motivation are everything.
What's your next move? How are you going to configure your way forward, sister? Don't give up.
