Love Yourself
Hi guys. It's been a hot minute since my last post, and I have no good excuses for not posting. Lack of content ideas, surgery recovery, busy with auditions. Eh - life has been a lot lately, and my blog/YT channel just hasn't been a priority.
But enough with that, today I wanted to talk about something vital. And that is loving yourself. A week ago, I read this article on Backstage about "How to Make a Casting Director Fall in Love With You." I absolutely fell in love with this article - it's so beautiful and relevant today that I just had to add my thoughts on this subject.
As Joseph Pearlman, the author of the article, so eloquently states:
You have to fall in love with yourself first in order for someone else to fall in love with you. When you fall in love with yourself and do that work, getting someone to like or fall in love with you does not require effort (Pearlman).
Loving yourself is essential, not just as a performer, but as a person too. Those who love themselves so completely have this confidence and aura that attracts other people. They shimmer slightly.
During my period of struggles in college, I definitely did not love myself, and I did not attract good experiences or people. I was young and insecure. I didn't know who I was, but I knew who I wanted to be. I have no clue how I got to loving myself so completely. It could be getting older and maturing, or maybe it was a mindset change - either way, I am happy to be here. In a place where I love myself so completely that other people's opinions/dislikes of me hold no weight.
Here are some ways you can work on loving yourself.
Shadow work
Shadow work is probably one of the hardest things you will do on your journey to loving yourself. It's an ongoing process. Shadow work involves working through the dark places of your past. I have a whole soul series that you can check out for some excellent shadow work ideas.
Think highly of yourself (but not in a conceited way)
A few weeks ago, I was feeling very insecure and had low self-esteem. To help myself feel better, I wrote in my journal what someone would say about me if I was a book character. I put myself on a freaking pedestal and wrote everything I love about myself and who I want to see myself as. I even wrote some dialogue between the book version of me and some random characters to further imagine me at my highest self. I have this entry also saved on my phone that I go back and read when I need a good confidence boost.
Mindset matters
“The mind is everything. What you think, you become.”
If you don't think highly of yourself, you won't love yourself. In college, I definitely didn't think highly of myself. I didn't think I was a good person etc. Life was a lot back then. Now that I have a different mindset, I know who I am 110%, and once you know who you are, you can think of yourself in a positive light.
Lasting impressions
Impressions are super important. This one might be a bit harder when you're on your self-love journey, but it does get easier with practice. As Pearlman beautifully states, "It's about what you leave behind. Falling in love with yourself will light you up and make it, so you don't have to do anything. If you try to do something, I don't think it's going to work."
Let go of the need to people-please
It's not your responsibility to make people like you. That's on them whether they do or not. Do not put yourself down to make someone else feel better. People pleasing makes you seem desperate. So let go of the need to please others. Show up as your most authentic self, do good work, leave behind some sparkle, and those that love you will follow.
I hope you liked this post. As always don't for get to give it a like, leave me a comment and share this with anyone who you think would benefit from it. Sending you all the light and love. See you next time.
