WhyDid Wisdom: Love Me

My lobby’s front desk has been covered in flower deliveries all day long. These aren’t the carnations and baby’s breath variety either. There are a lot of people being spoiled florally today. And florists are making their first quarter sales marks in a stride.

After getting up this morning and heading to yoga at Strala, I walked home from Soho and spent a solid ten minutes at my favorite flower stand off of 6th Avenue deciding which shade of roses I wanted to give myself for Valentine’s Day. I proudly carried the bouquet in the crook of my arm the rest of the way home while bopping along to my latest iTunes playlist. Years ago, I would have felt embarrassed about being my own Valentine, but after years of anti climatic and at times even traumatic Valentine’s Days, I’m happy to be a party of one.

I think the largest flaw with Valentine’s Day lies in the fact that so many people set themselves up for disappointment. Movies, and TV shows, love stories, and even tabloids have given us these grandiose ideas of what love is all about. When we are met with hand written notes instead of shiny new Maybachs in the driveway, we end up thinking that we are missing the mark. We’ve been fed an ideal of what love is that can only lead to unmet expectations and resentment. However, love comes in so many other forms than romance. Also, romance doesn’t always necessarily guarantee love. There are very few people you can always count on. If you have more than a few, consider yourself lucky. And without getting into spiritual beliefs (which I have), there’s really only one person you can count on and that’s yourself. The only person’s behavior you are in complete control over is your own, so if you want to be spoiled, or loved, maybe it’s time you start doing it yourself. This is a practice called “self love” and while it does include the stigma you are thinking of, that’s not all that it equates to.

There are plenty of ways to pamper yourself- whether material or mental and below are some thoughts on how to show yourself some love this Valentine’s Day or any other day of the year for that matter:

Yoga and meditation
A long shower complete with your favorite sugar or coffee scrub.
A bubble bath that rivals Pretty Woman.
Indulge in spa day or just splurge on a footrub at your favorite spot for pedicures.
Enjoying a bottle of your favorite bubbly all by yourself.
Watching every single episode of your favorite guilty pleasure.
Getting lost in a library and then lost in a book.
Decking yourself out just because.
Getting your hair blown out with no plans in sight.
Cooking your favorite meal.
Buying yourself something instead of waiting for someone else to (and because you’ve worked hard for it, dang it!).