I read a beautiful piece of prose in Jeff Fosters The Way of the Rest last night. here it is:

You are the one I wake up with every morning. The one I breathe with, The one whose every heartbeat I feel as my own. You are the one I walk with, the one I speak and sing with, the one who stays with me through every waking moment of every sacred day. You are the one I get sick with, the one I cry with, the one whose anger and joy and doubt surge through me like fire. You are the one I will die with, the one whose arms I return to. You are the one I see in every face, shining through every pair of eyes, shimmering through the silences, the trails of dust and the spaces in the canopy.ou are my constant companion, my home, my reason, my joy, my life. we cannot be divided, we cannot be two, and even One is too many for us.

I sing this song to myself, disappearing into the song and I am never alone.

It is called Love Song to Myself, how many of us write love songs to ourselves? I know I haven’t in a long time.

What is this thing called self-love? Let’s go on a journey down its rocky path:

1. Love is a four letter word, so is self. Two four letter worded combined make for an awesome life.

2. Do you do these things daily, if not what is enough for you to Love Yourself: Beautiful.

3. You Look like you are in Love. A statement that you are not yourself, a shame really.

4. I did a role play once with my friend Marija. For 15 minutes we had to say a statement to each other. Mine to her was you are fucking magnificent and hers to me was you are a handsome man. Since then we will always be FM and HM to each other: Who I Am.

5. With the publication of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Angelou publicly discussed aspects of her personal life. She was respected as a spokesperson for black people and women, and her works have been considered a defense of black culture. Attempts have been made to ban her books from some U.S. libraries, but her works are widely used in schools and universities worldwide. Angelou’s most celebrated works have been labeled as autobiographical fiction, but many critics consider them to be autobiographies. She made a deliberate attempt to challenge the common structure of the autobiography by critiquing, changing, and expanding the genre. Her books center on themes such as racism, identity, family, and travel.

6. Breathing is necessary to stay alive. I agree with Mandy Hale that these should also be part of the menu: F**king Perfect.

7. Shine on, you crazy diamond, you are unique and that is why we love you.

8. There are 7,000,000,000 beautifully unique individuals on the planet. Some have forgotten. Your job is to remember!!: Don’t you know you’re Beautiful.

9. Listen to your heart space, because one day it will stop, that will be the end.

10. Coleman Hawkins, a renowned jazz saxophone player is credited with saying If you don’t make mistakes, you aren’t really trying. His playing exemplified that: Cool Jazz.

11. Be careful what you say and think. Remember you are always listening and most of it will come true, even when you don’t want it too.

12. Make sure that you are not that person: Firework.

13. Sing that song to yourself as Jeff reiterates in his prose. It will give you access to others loving you.

14. I am also reading Brene’s Daring Greatly. Self-talk is incredibly powerful. Make the best use of it, you can: Brave.

15. And for the last insight, let’s give us the greatest gift we can, the beautiful gift of self-love.

You are lucky enough to be different from your brothers, sisters and best friends. That is because you are uniquely the beautiful being we know as ………….., insert your name here.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.