If you have ever stood in front of a mirror and told your reflection you love it, you might be familiar with the sense of idiocy that washed over me as I faced my bathroom mirror, searching for a scrap of authenticity in the words I had just spoken. If only self-love were that easy.
The words felt contrived, and not at all “me”. I wanted to love myself, but I probably wasn’t going to find it within some cookie-cutter wellbeing exercise. Self-love is perhaps the greatest love of all, but it’s also the hardest.
There was a time when my high standards proved to be a powerful engine; they got me to where I
