I really started to fall in love with myself when I started treating myself like I was my own crush.
When I was like twenty years old and single, I was getting over my desperation for love from a man. I realized that I could do everything I wanted to do in a relationship, alone. (Except, unfortunately, make out).
The more I fell in love with myself, was comfortable with myself, and made myself laugh, the happier and more content I became. There's magic in trusting yourself and knowing how to make your own day, you know? Suddenly your need for outside validation shrinks and your relationships with other people are no longer codependent.
That year, I started a tradition where I would buy and send myself flowers and a love note every Valentine's Day. Even as I eventually found myself in a relationship, I kept sending them, and I've done it every year since without fail. As I enter my twenty-sixth year of life, this tradition means more to me than ever. When I'm celebrating this Valentine's Day (and my 80th!), I plan on getting the same love note from twenty-year-old Chloe. It reads:
Dear Chloe,
You are the most important human to ever grace my life, you shining star. Love you forever, queen.
Love, Chloe
The copy might need some revising, but the message is eternal! The truth is, there's no destination on the journey to "self-love." Still, the idea of taking time to have fun, appreciate yourself (and maybe color for a minute) can make the weather in your head a little clearer.
So, I decided to make my next coloring book all about that. Buy Yourself Flowers: A Coloring Book + Way of Living is now available <3
This book isn't about getting to the place twenty-year-old Chloe was the year she started to love herself. It's not instructional, emotional, or intelligent. But it is about flowers, and here’s the thing: you deserve flowers.
Xx, Chloe