I took a random selfie today. This isn’t really a novel experience. What was different about it today was my desire to post that selfie. While I post photos of myself on my public @therapy.girl Instagram account, I really don’t post them on my personal account. I really rarely post at all on my personal accounts and if I do, it is a photo with others.
But today I felt cute and I didn’t want to just delete it later.
Self-esteem can be a hard thing to come by and hold onto. Having positive regard for yourself may or may not have been taught or role modeled to you in childhood. Then there are other Life experiences that can really take a toll on our self-esteem. Life has a funny way of testing us and sometimes it can feel like it beats us down. Well, I’ve had some of those knock-down-drag-out fights with Life too. So, there are times when something as simple as posting a selfie can feel difficult.
As I reflect on my conflicted feelings about it, I can recognize that the discomfort with presenting myself to the world isn’t just about me. I believe this is an intergenerational wound that needs to be healed and I’m determined to provide that healing to my ancestors.
To love ourselves is to provide that same self-love to all of the people that came before us.
This also serves as healing for the generations to come. There’s a trickle-down effect within families when it comes to…well, everything. If we work on healing ourselves from the trauma we’ve experienced within our family structures and from the outside world, we are in turn healing the generations before and after us. What a beautiful gift that we can provide for ourselves and our families.
I encourage you to show yourself some love! I encourage you to embrace every single part of you! I encourage you to recognize how incredible it is to be you – because there’s no one else out there like you! I encourage you to go ahead and post that random selfie!
“I used to think I was the strangest person in the world but then I thought there are so many people in the world, there must be someone just like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do. I would imagine her, and imagine that she must be out there thinking of me too. Well, I hope that if you are out there and read this and know that, yes, it’s true I’m here, and I’m just as strange as you.”
Frida Kahlo
If you would like to learn more about ways to improve your self-esteem, check out these links:
