8 Books to Celebrate Self-Love this Valentine’s month
Originally published at merrative.com
I feel like the term ‘self-love’ is so overused nowadays that it has lost its essence and importance. Self-love is among one of the underrated and crucial survival needs a human being requires mentally and physically. If we start accepting who we are, we start accepting others and we start accepting the society we live in.
I think loving yourself is a deeper concept and truth one needs to find it themselves. And hey, if you’re just as confused as I am, and you need a helping hand, these books are here for you!
Tick that ‘take-time-for-yourself’ box this month by reading these wonderful self-healing books:
How to Stop Feeling Like Sh*t
by Andrea Owen
“We don’t get better when the weather is calm and things are all unicorns farting rainbows. We get better when we fall apart and pick the pieces back up.”
Don’t think you’ll be changed forever after reading this book. You’ll still be the same but you’ll know WHY. Not the usual ‘beating-around-the-bush’ kind of book, How to Stop Feeling Like Sh*t offers some true solutions to the unknowingly most common self-destructive behaviours women tend to engage in.
coachellyn.com reviews:
“Basically, this book was a really good one! It had all sorts of insights and spunky, no-holds-barred stories and truth-bombs! And when tackling heavy subjects like this, that’s exactly what we all need!”
The Art of Happiness
by Dalai Lama XIV, Howard C. Cutler
“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.”
This book is actually written by psychiatrist Howard C. Cutler and includes interview excerpts with the Dalai Lama and his teachings of happiness, compassion and belonging.
Dalai Lama through the conversations, explains how the purpose of life and happiness are intertwined and how we can deal with the frequent anxiety, fear, insecurity, anger, and discouragement in our daily lives.
Oliver Rand from Medium reviews:
“The wisdom that characterizes the Dalai Lama is very palpable in this book. For the reader, this wisdom is soothing and energizing, full of positive vibes. This book is a compendium of good intentions and small actions that can be put into practice every day.”
Big Magic
by Elizabeth Gilbert
“The universe buries strange jewels deep within us all, and then stands back to see if we can find them.”
Gilbert inspires the readers to live a balanced creative life by sharing some excerpts from her life. She explains what kind of habits and actions lead to a creative life, a life we all had once in childhood.
The Eat, Pray, Love author reminds us of the actual perspective we need to see our life in.
The Washington Post reviews:
“Big Magic is a celebration of a creative life…Gilbert’s love of creativity is infectious, and there’s a lot of great advice in this sunny book…Gilbert doesn’t just call for aspiring artists to speak their truth, however daffy that may appear to others; she is showing them how.”
The Self-Love Experiment
by Shannon Kaiser
“What I share with coaching clients and in my own life is the concept of “bounced out.” Bouncing out is when your energy no longer aligns with that of the people or situations around you. You vibrate yourself out because your desires and needs have shifted.”
Shannon Kaiser reminds us how to live a healthier lifestyle with ourselves through The Self- Love Experiment. She explains, through her own life experiment, the things we must do and not be ashamed or in denial of, for our own well-being and that sometimes being selfish is the right thing to do.
Marci Shimoff, New York Times bestselling author of Happy for No Reason and Chicken Soup for the Woman’s Soul reviews:
“One of the freshest voices in mental health and wellness, Shannon is on a mission to empower others to be true to themselves and live their full potential.”
The Body is Not an Apology
by Sonya Renee Taylor
“Living in a female body, a Black body, an ageing body, a fat body, a body with mental illness is to awaken daily to a planet that expects a certain set of apologies to already live on our tongues. There is a level of “not enough” or “too much” sewn into these strands of difference.”
Activist and poet Sonya Renee Taylor, unfolds how the system and societal pressures and forces have increased the gap between the relationship we have with our bodies.
A recommended pick for Black History Month, The Body is Not an Apology gifts us with the knowledge of radical self-love and how achieving it, could contagiously affect the world in a positive way.
Publishers Weekly reviews:
“Poet and activist Taylor (A Little Truth on Your Shirt) packs important ideas into this concise volume on body empowerment. “Radical self-love is not a destination you are trying to get to; it is who you already are,” she counsels…The author’s sensible and empathetic tone will lend comfort to readers and help them to see that no matter what their body type, they are beautiful.”
You Were Born For This
by Chani Nicholas
“When we give our chart, or anything or anyone in our life, too much power, we lose contact with our agency. Try to come at your chart with an investigative and optimistic autonomy.”
If you’re an Astrology nerd, this is the right recommendation for you!
Instead of the usual ‘Today, you’d have this and that’ horoscopes, Chani Nicholas reveals how knowing your own star chart and taking control of your needs can be so rewarding and useful to achieve greater heights of self-love.
Vanity Fair reviews:
“Like Nicholas’s entire body of work, the book elucidates a system of logic and explains how that system can be put to use.”
Over the Top
by Jonathan Van Ness
“You know those plants that are always trying to find the light? Maybe they were planted in a location that didn’t necessarily facilitate growth, but inexplicably they make a circuitous route to not only survive but bloom into a beautiful plant. That was me — my whole life.”
It would be better if I don’t describe this book with my not so “over the top” vocabulary.
But this Goodreads description definitely gives justice to it:
Who gave Jonathan Van Ness permission to be the radiant human he is today? No one, honey.
The truth is, it hasn’t always been gorgeous for this beacon of positivity and joy.
Before he stole our hearts as the grooming and self-care expert on Netflix’s hit show Queer Eye, Jonathan was growing up in a small Midwestern town that didn’t understand why he was so…over the top. From choreographed carpet figure skating routines to the unavoidable fact that he was Just. So. Gay., Jonathan was an easy target and endured years of judgement, ridicule and trauma — yet none of it crushed his uniquely effervescent spirit.
In his memoir, Jonathan Van Ness describes how a magnanimous amount of self-love beyond the fame and fashion life brought him to live the raw and original part of him to date.
The New York Times reviews:
“There is plenty to laugh at in the ways “Queer Eye”’s grooming expert frames his story, but it’s the battles he’s waged against the darker corners of his soul to become the bright light we know today that provide the necessary context for this book to shine.”
After the Rain
by Alexandra Elle
“I understand that every storm that passes through is clearing the path for something bigger, brighter, and more bountiful.”
After the Rain is a soulful journey to the author’s life and includes self-care reflections on “Identity,” “Soothing the Suffering,” “Family,” “Healing,” “Comparison,” “Dedication,” and “Acceptance.”
P.S.: You’re going to find a lot of affirmations in these books you deserve! Also, it’s a really good pick for Black History Month. :)
Happy reading!
I hope you get your perfect match in the above list and enjoy reading it while having a cup of coffee on your cosy couch. ❤
