Valentine’s Day + A Few Thoughts on Love

In the Collick household, we aren’t much for Hallmark holidays, especially now that the kids are older. And you’ll notice that I don’t really push Valentine’s day in my business either.

I’m not against 2/14, I just think that love should be every day. No reason to get stingy with it, right? Little gestures to show people how much you care go a long way regardless the month on the calendar.

Speaking of love, I read an article the other day and it really hit home for me so I thought I’d share. The article was about the difference between self care, and self love. The article included ways to show yourself love…and expressed that it was easier said than done, because it takes actual work to get there. Suggesting things like giving yourself grace, allowing yourself to be seen, and processing your feelings. <ugh, this does sound like a bit of work, lol> Of course, I can see how these practices fall to the wayside for nurturers. It’s easy to neglect ourselves when we are busy taking care of others.

It also gave a huge helping of ways to use self care as a way to show self love. And not the typical, ‘buy the shoes, eat the cake’ advice we so often get from articles that use superficial comforts as a way to express the two. (I’ll include a link to the article at the end, in case you’d like to read it)

But, this article got me thinking about the awesome group of nurturers in this community. The DCJ family is filled with women who are strong, resilient, hard-working, caring, giving, loving, and nurturing. I’ve known some of you for almost 25 years. In that time life has dealt its ups and downs to all of us. We’ve raised families, experienced heartbreak, health issues, empty nests, changing careers, taking care of our parents, divorce, weddings and yes, loss. And countless other hard things. Through it all we’ve grown into ourselves, matured in ways we never expected. I wonder though, how do we show up for ourselves? Are we?

So I thought I would take a few minutes to send some love to you, my DCJ family. I wanted you to know that I see you. You are important to me.

I hope you take time every day to show the world your authentic, beautiful self. ❤️

If you’re like me, it’s a little out of your comfort zone. But, I’d love for you to leave a comment with ways you show yourself the ‘love’. Or, habits you’d like to start to help take care of you. Maybe together we can support each other in an effort to take better care of ourselves in body + mind + spirit.

xo, Suz

P.S. And…so that you know I’m all in, I’ll start: This year I am going to stop putting my own health second. It’s a bad habit I got into when life was crazy with three small kids, and a business/household to run. Now I have no excuses! And, as I started last year, I’m going to continue to set more work/life boundaries. Your turn, comment below!

P.P.S. Oh!…and here’s the article from Outside+. I hope it resonates with you as much as it does with me.