Episode 20: Self-Love Check-in: Loving Yourself in Transition
It’s time for another self-love check-in! How are you doing, lovely? I like to take some time to live life between check-ins (as should you!) I think it’s easy to fall into the rabbit hole of healing (guilty!) and make it an entire identity (oops!). But the goal of these check-ins is to see how far we’ve come and also pause and reflect.
Spring Into Your Self-Love Journey
May has always been a transition month for me. It teases the promise of summer while still reminding us that we’re blooming. I’m like that butterfly that gets out of the cocoon and my wings are wet, yet I still attempt to fly. The weight of growth prevents me from spreading my wings too soon.
I have this self-imposed five-year plan I’m working on. The Universe likes to remind me how fluid these plans need to be. Every time I think I have momentum or figured something out? Roadblock. Detour. Pitstop. I feel like I’m in my own episode of The Amazing Race.
Recently, I’ve been in a heavy roadblock and detour phase of the five year plan, buried in a mountain of life logistics. Trying to move forward without the right foundation can leave you with holes in your ceiling (pun intended.)
As I continue to navigate The Universe’s unexpected plot points (they really are a great producer), I found myself struggling to keep up the loving yourself journey. Frustration crept in, lots of unplanned grief. I felt like a chess piece. On top of all that, I’ve been navigating an entire identity surprise bomb as I try to learn how my body wants to work together.
Yet, I’m still here. The past ten years of this self-love journey really helped me get through a few hard months stacked on top of each other. And I had to keep reminding myself that transition was the good part.
The Challenge of Transition
Transition is often silent and unpredictable. I like to remind writers that just like in that first draft, life isn’t always point A to point B. It’s more like A to E, sometimes even A to Z. Your self-love journey is rarely linear, and perfectionism starts to creep up when we are in the depths of the transition trench.
I’ve been focusing on what it means to love myself through transition. Here are a few practices I’ve found nourishing:
- Authority Over Life: I keep talking about this because it’s the perfect real example of no-such-thing-as-point-A-to-point-B. It’s expanding. Changing. I keep wanting to push it further. Where else have I not touched authority in self-love? Exercising authority over your life is a powerful form of self-love. It means making decisions for yourself, embracing being your own partner in this journey. This practice has helped me make difficult decisions even amidst life’s exciting plot thickening points.
- Grieving with Love: Grief comes in waves. Sometimes, I think that certain points or goals in life don’t get the grief recognition they deserve. I’ve been practicing acknowledging grief, not just for people, but for past versions of myself that thought we’d be somewhere by point E. I like to remind myself that grief is a form of love, ever expanding into our understanding of the greatest gift this life can offer us.
- Crafting a Nourishing Life: My word of the year is nourish. I started the year on a health related chapter and it naturally sort of helped me navigate what felt nourishing. Outside of the body, I have used the word to find joy in new creative endeavors. Ceramics has taught me a lot about what feels nourishing while in transition. When things were changing too fast for me to be able to control, clay grounded me.
How does transition help you in your self-love journey?
Transition activates my impatience a bit. It’s the uncomfortable hollowness of carving my way through that feels, at times, like I am just digging myself into a deeper hole. Sometimes, I have found that sitting in the hole and not needing to dig further can help. Especially when life keeps throwing you in a new direction and leaves you feeling like a ping pong ball.
The tension of transition can sometimes come from triggers from past versions of ourselves. It forces me to ask, who is uncomfortable right now? Who doesn’t want to let go? How can I sit with this version of me that is resisting change? I like to remind her that change is what makes life beautiful. It’s what breaks us open and reminds us that we get to keep moving forward. We don’t have to live like this anymore.
Dear lovely, you are doing enough
As you sit in the transition, I want to remind you how far you’ve come. Sometimes our instinct is to keep going. We only know how to survive. I want to take away the silver spoon for a second. Stop digging. Your tunnel looks great, lovely. You are doing enough.
I found the perfect Lovely Letter to remind you how special this time is for you. Loving yourself in transition can be challenging. It’s important to keep moving forward. It’s important to honor who you’ve been and who you are becoming. Just don’t forget to pause. Take a look at your progress. You wanted to be here for so long. There’s always more tunnel to go but look at that bright light. She’s bursting out of you. In this moment, dear lovely, you are doing enough.
Check out episode 20!
Season two is moving and grooving, but if you need more lovely words to help guide your self-love journey, there are lovely gems waiting for you on the blog.
Whether you’re just starting your self-love journey or you’re in the middle of it, you’re not late or behind. The intent for this place was always to make you feel less alone.
If you’re in the middle of a new life chapter, know that you’re not doing anything wrong or choosing a wrong path. The path you choose will always lead you to where you’re meant to be. Trust the process and give yourself the opportunity to bet on something new, you never know where it will lead you.
The find a lovely life podcast is available on your favorite podcast platform and on YouTube. Check out episode twenty!
Dive into the podcast!
Episode 22 | How To Work With Your Inner Child In Your Self-Love Journey – Find a Lovely Life: A Self-Love Journey Podcast
- Episode 22 | How To Work With Your Inner Child In Your Self-Love Journey
- Episode 21 | How To Work With Summer In Your Self-Love Journey
- Episode 20 | Self-Love Check-in: Loving Yourself in Transition
- Episode 19 | Self-Love Tool: How To Work With Winter In Your Self-Love Journey
- Episode 18 | Self-Love Check-in: Dive Into Your Transformation
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