# data[].attributes.headline
The Art of Self Love: Alexandra Harra (NON-FICTION: ARTICLE)

# data[].attributes.subject
The Art of Self Love: Alexandra Harra (NON-FICTION: ARTICLE)

# data[].attributes.body
I am a lover and a giver. I give without regret or restraint and rarely expect anything in return. Admittedly, this combination can be lethal to my well-being.

I know many like me and see a discouraging pattern: those who have it in their nature to love without limits ironically impede the pathways of self-love. The more they love another, it seems, the less they are able to love themselves.

Along with many other things in life, introspection and inner evolution taught me an invaluable lesson in caring for myself. Having recently escaped a five-year relationship, I found my love levels dangerously low. My adoring energy had been exhausted on another person and now I, newly single, was left unknowing how to rebuild that force within me... until a stranger gave me the answer.

A man standing next to me on New Year’s Eve casually asked what I did for a living. I told him I managed my mom’s psychology business, to which he replied, “Do you know there’s one answer to your clients’ problems? It’s simple: have a love affair with yourself. But don’t tell them that, or you won’t have a business!” He chuckled and wandered off. Committing to memory his words, I took the fleeting encounter as a signal to live out the coming year differently. I resolved to make this a year in which I practiced the art of self-love.

My journey began with a few simple questions: had I really lost any love for myself, or had I stubbornly stowed it under a layer of false admiration for another? Could it be that my self-love was just as intact as it was five years ago? I would come to find out that there was nothing missing within me — nothing wrong with me and nothing that I didn’t deserve. Through honest reflection and a mindful shift, I rediscovered the secret hiding place of my self-love. It was all there where I had left it — perfectly, wholly and plainly there, shrouded by a veil of self-imposed doubt, which I immediately worked to remove.

Through daily efforts, I am able to live by my new-found sense of self-worth. I’ve found the following simple actions key in creating a positive switch in mentality and reestablishing a profound love of the self:

Forgive yourself. Every one of us makes mistakes — in relationships, finances, personal decisions, and so on. Mistakes can be costly reminders to think before we act, but they are also encompassed by greater lessons. Remembering this can help us forgive our former failures and discern their higher purpose. When we forgive ourselves for our shortcomings we can redirect our attention to new efforts that produce new results.

Put yourself first. There lies beauty in sacrifice. But when you constantly put yourself second, you set up an inevitable pattern of behavior. In time, you settle for second place in more than one area of life. Reevaluate what it means to put yourself first: engaging in your interests, pursuing your ambitions, and ensuring your well-being. Practice this mantra in all difficult situations: If it doesn’t bring me good, it isn’t worth my effort.

Say I love you. Speak it to yourself every morning; look in a mirror and say “I love you” in a loud voice. We automatically critique, blame, and fault ourselves for nearly everything, rarely acknowledging the things we do well or those we ought to be proud of. Show yourself daily doses of well-deserved appreciation.

Recognize your strengths. Recognizing your strongest traits endows you with deep knowledge of the self, a precious tool you can use to cultivate your best assets. Understand what are your shining qualities and showcase them with beaming confidence. Once you acknowledge your strengths, you can raise your standards in all elements of life. The moment you begin to believe that you deserve better is the moment you receive better.

Do something you love each day. When was the last time you did something you truly loved? Our ambition is admirable, but our lives have become so busy that we often dismiss simple pleasures to take care of business. Whether it’s a hobby, talent, or special craft, take thirty minutes out of your day, each day, to practice what nourishes your soul. Everything can wait while you indulge in your beloved self.

Cut out all negative influences. Make a list of the people in your life who have no place being there. You know who they are — those who drain you physically, emotionally, or mentally, who take advantage of you or cause you any form of stagnation. Literally cut your list in half and let this be reflective of the way in which you will trim away these negative influences in real life.

Release love to yourself. We hoard our abundant love of the self within us, as if waiting to release it to the right person. In reality this love was meant to be released only to ourselves. Allow your self-love to flow freely by eliminating criticisms, insecurities, and doubts. The attention you should show another person is secondary to the attention you should show yourself. Why wait for someone else to love you when you can love yourself first?

Celebrate your worth. It’s easy to become distracted by potential achievements and neglect past accomplishments. Celebrate your personal triumphs, both big and small, and let every former victory be a fervent reminder that future wins await, too. Don’t be afraid to raise your glass and toast to that amazing person who’s conquered their every challenge: you.

Thrive on creativity. We are all remarkably creative, but our originality may be stunted by external factors. For example, your job may not allow you to express your true ingenuity. Our imagination allows us to manifest our most brilliant ideas to life if only we can open the inventive doors inside. Incorporate your creative tendencies into everyday life, from the way you dress, speak, decorate your home, etc. Expand your creative potential to reach its peak in time.

Extending too much love to others can leave us lacking in love for ourselves. We must walk the fine line of attending to others and tending to ourselves, all the while never falling second to the needs of another. Because to love ourselves is to know ourselves, and to know ourselves is to recognize the full spectrum of our powers.

Yours in love,
Alexandra Harra

-  This article shows somebody's professional and personal opinion on self love and what it takes to truly love yourself. The author of this article showed readers many helpful tips and interesting view points on what it takes to achieve complete self love and why it is important to do so.
- This article showed me that it is more important to first have love for yourself, and then have love for others. Putting other people before yourself can result in you not being treated correctly because you are trying to please other people over yourself. But really, the only way you know how you should be treated is if you respect and acknowledge the things you know you deserve.
- The author of this article, Alexandra Harra, used different sections throughout the article so that the reader could focus on the different points she was making one at a time. This will make the reader focus on one topic at a time rather than gathering too much information all at once, making it easier for the reader to concentrate and be interested in what the article is saying.

# data[].attributes.headline
I search 4 it blinded: the power of self love and self-esteem: Caira Lee (MULTI-MEDIA: TEDtalks)

# data[].attributes.subject
I search 4 it blinded: the power of self love and self-esteem: Caira Lee (MULTI-MEDIA: TEDtalks)

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEHEMqmz_qg
-  Caira Lee's Tedtalk focusing on radical self love and self esteem gives detailed information on her personal experience with self love and how you can connect this to your own life. Lee's explanation and examples of her own encounters with the struggle of self love show how important yet how difficult self love is. Choosing to love yourself is one thing, but acting on that decision and truly believing that "you are the most important person to you", as Lee says, is a completely different thing. Self love is truly empowering and once you have accomplished it, applying it to your everyday life and using it to love other's will not only make you feel powerful, but will empower the people's lives that you are touching.
- Watching this TEDtalk made me see the true struggle of self love rather than only the beauty of it. Everyone has something that they dislike about themselves. This can be a physical attribute, the way they think about something, or the way they act. If the thing a person does not like about themselves is actually negatively effecting them or is not good for them, they should change it in order to ensure they live a healthy and happy life. However, if the person does not like that certain thing about themselves because it either makes them insecure or because someone else does not like this thing about them, they should push themselves to learn to love and accept their "imperfections".
- Caira Lee gets the message of self love across to the people who view this video by using the tone of her voice and her deep descriptions of the struggles of both her past and present to get people to relate her stories to their own lives. Caira Lee uses an upset or "depressing" tone of voice while telling the audience about her mother's struggle with alcoholism and her struggle with an eating disorder and depression most likely to get the audience thinking about their own struggles they have dealt with in life. Then, right after, she uses an empowering and strong tone of voice when she is talking about how she conquered her problems and gained self confidence and self love. Doing this most likely made the people in the audience want to deal with their problems and overcome their insecurities like Caira Lee did.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
I search 4 it blinded: the power of self-love and self-esteem | Caira Lee | TEDxSHHS

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
National award-winning slam poet Caira Lee speaks to a rapt audience on the power of absolute self-love. Through a beautiful illustration of her own journey through life, Lee demonstrates that your body, size, race, sexual orientation are assets that don't need fixing, but are characteristics that one should embrace.

# data[].attributes.body
Image from: http://everydayfeminism.com/everyday-self-love/
-  This image shows self love because it is showing a woman who appears to be "hugging" herself. Seeing a woman who is truly loving or trying to love herself can be very inspiring to someone viewing the artwork. Also, the person seeing it may have some similar physical attributes as the woman in the piece, and it could inspire them to love them rather than be ashamed or embarrassed of them
- This image helped me realize the importance of self love. It helped me see that by loving yourself, you can teach others to love you. A person will never know how you deserve to be treated unless you yourself know how you deserve to be treated. In other words, knowing your self worth is the only way that others will what you are worth.
- The creator of this image used mostly warm colors such as yellow, orange, and red, in order to create a sort of comforting and calming feel for this piece of art. Also, the artist choosing to draw a beautiful woman could have made the person viewing the artwork think deeper into the piece.

# data[].attributes.headline
"As I Began to Love Myself" : Charlie Chaplin (FICTION: POETRY)

# data[].attributes.subject
"As I Began to Love Myself" : Charlie Chaplin (FICTION: POETRY)

# data[].attributes.body
"As I began to love myself I found that anguish and emotional suffering are only warning signs that I was living against my own truth. Today, I know, this is “AUTHENTICITY”.

As I began to love myself I understood how much it can offend somebody if I try to force my desires on this person, even though I knew the time was not right and the person was not ready for it, and even though this person was me. Today I call it “RESPECT”.
As I began to love myself I stopped craving for a different life, and I could see that everything that surrounded me was inviting me to grow. Today I call it “MATURITY”.

As I began to love myself I understood that at any circumstance, I am in the right place at the right time, and everything happens at the exactly right moment. So I could be calm. Today I call it “SELF-CONFIDENCE”.
As I began to love myself I quit stealing my own time, and I stopped designing huge projects for the future. Today, I only do what brings me joy and happiness, things I love to do and that make my heart cheer, and I do them in my own way and in my own rhythm. Today I call it “SIMPLICITY”.

As I began to love myself I freed myself of anything that is no good for my health – food, people, things, situations, and everything that drew me down and away from myself. At first I called this attitude a healthy egoism. Today I know it is “LOVE OF ONESELF”.

As I began to love myself I quit trying to always be right, and ever since I was wrong less of the time. Today I discovered that is “MODESTY”.

As I began to love myself I refused to go on living in the past and worrying about the future. Now, I only live for the moment, where everything is happening. Today I live each day, day by day, and I call it “FULFILLMENT”.
As I began to love myself I recognized that my mind can disturb me and it can make me sick. But as I connected it to my heart, my mind became a valuable ally. Today I call this connection “WISDOM OF THE HEART”.

We no longer need to fear arguments, confrontations or any kind of problems with ourselves or others. Even stars collide, and out of their crashing new worlds are born. Today I know “THAT IS LIFE”!

- This poem shows what true self love is in many different ways. It shows that self love is not only the confidence and sureness that someone has in themselves, but it also shows the importance of respecting yourself as well. Also, it showed that ones self love does not only come from the way they look on the outside, but the kind of person they are. A beautiful person could never truly achieve self love due to their hatred for the person that they are on the inside.
- Reading this poem by Charlie Chaplin helped me realize that self love is a choice. Learning to love every aspect of yourself is only up to you. A person may have been raised by parents who were constantly putting them down or had a relationship that made them feel insecure, and they may blame their self hatred on these circumstances. However, choosing to move on from the past and "live in the now", as Chaplin says, is completely their decision and is the only way they can be completely loving towards themselves.
- Chaplin uses many different visual, dramatic, and literary techniques to get his point across to the reader in this selection. An example of a dramatic technique Chaplin uses is including the life lesson he learned from each of the examples that he had in each stanza, and putting the lessons in capital letters. This technique is used to make the reader of the poem focus and dwell on the final thing that Chaplin says, the life lesson, and relate this to their own lives.

# data[].attributes.headline
Self Love: regard for one's own well-being and happiness (chiefly considered as a desirable rather than narcissistic characteristic).

# data[].attributes.subject
Self Love: regard for one's own well-being and happiness (chiefly considered as a desirable rather than narcissistic characteristic).

# data[].attributes.body
In today's society, people do not realize how important self love is. Without self love, you can not be truly happy and content with your life, you will not know how you deserve to be treated, and you will not be able to identify how to love and accept others. However, the act of loving yourself can often be mistaken with cockiness, and these two are completely different things. Loving yourself is knowing your own value, respecting the way you are portrayed and the things that you deserve in life. While cockiness is someone who is overly self confident, puts themselves above others, and uses their strengths to put others done. Once you have achieved true self love, it is so important to use it to positively influence others and to spread the love.