Self-Love Series Day 7: Owen
What is Self- Love? Well, the obvious answer is the act of loving one’s self. This very simplistic definition at the surface very accurately defines Self- Love, however it goes much deeper than that, it charges people to search within themselves and ask the bold question of “Do I Really Love Myself”? Throughout this essay, I will share my story and the challenges that I faced while trying to answer that same question for myself. In my opinion, Self-Love is the internal belief that one’s self is good enough and is shown through the promotion of that person’s self wants and self-beliefs. Self-Love is the practice of loving ones’ self; yes, however you must first know who you are. This aspect of self-love has been and still is extremely difficult for me because it involved me finding who I am and accepting my findings regardless of what they were and how other people would feel about them. When you are finding yourself, you do an internal evaluation of your characteristics and change what you do not like and embrace those that you do.
Throughout my childhood I was bullied by other children because of who I was. As a result , I became a very mean and critical person. When I ventured on the journey of finding myself, I realized that I really didn’t like or love who I had become. I decided that I would make some positive changes, and I would learn how to confidently love myself. I think the idea of self-love for me was and still is an endless journey of growth and development. The more and more I grow and change for the better while still staying grounded in who I am, the more I love myself. The greatest challenge of the “Self-Love Journey” is learning how to love yourself even when society is telling you that who you are isn’t acceptable. Self-Love for me is being able to take those criticisms and not allow them to have a negative effect on who I am. Those criticisms are not who I am, and I refuse to allow them to take or have control over me. Because I know who I am, I can stand firmly in it. When I am faced with the critical world, I can continue to strive for success knowing that no person can tell me that the way I choose to live or the roads that I choose take are neither wrong nor right. It’s an attitude that you must adopt by waking up each morning knowing that you are “The Bomb.com”; that is self-love in my opinion.
The practice of self-love to me can be performed in many different ways based on what you like and who you are. I practice self-love internally first so that it will show externally. Internally, I am constantly reminding myself of my worth and of my value. This constant positive internal self-talk is shown through my actions externally. Showing the world that I know and love who I am through a confident attitude is the most important way that I practice self-love.
My next practice is shopping and buying myself items that I like. Many believe this form of self-love is done to cover up the fact that you really don’t love yourself and you need materialistic items to make you happy. I completely disagree with this way of thinking and feel that if you like to shop and buy yourself things, you should within your means. I love shopping and buying myself clothes, shoes, and various accessories because I love how I feel when I look nice. I also enjoy being surrounded by loved ones and having the opportunity to share the love that I have for myself with others. This is very important to me, and it truly makes me happy.
In my self-love practice, I have tried to distance myself from people who do not support me and who truly do not want to see me happy or successful. Remember old keys don’t open new doors, and some old keys must be purged to move forward and grow. Overall, I practice self-love by simply living my life the way I want to live it: freely. To those who are currently on a self-love journey of their own, I would advise you to have patience and be open minded. Learning to love who you are isn’t something that you can open a book and find the answer to. It’s a lifelong lesson, an endless race, and it is the most important task that you will ever have. I tell you this because when it’s all said and done at the end of the day you only have yourself. Throughout my journey, I have had to trust that God has crafted me exactly how he wants to me to be. Loving yourself shows other how to love you and helps you to learn how to love others. I would charge to take these three steps: First find yourself, second do things that make you happy, lastly just live! The Journey isn’t easy, but the journey is worth the destination. I am Owen Onassis Brown, II, and I love myself!
Owen Onassis Brown, II is a native of Jackson, Mississippi and he is nineteen years old. He is a proud product of the Jackson Public School District and currently is a student at Mississippi State University. At MSU, Owen is pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education with a Middle School Concentration with focus areas in Science and Social Studies. Owen attended Jim Hill High School. During his high school days, he served as a volunteer tutor at Isable Elementary School. He worked with grades 3rd through 5th in English – Language Arts, focusing mostly on reading literacy and comprehension. As a high school senior, Owen served as an AmeriCorps tutor at Isable. That same year he was awarded The Governor’s Initiative for Volunteer Excellence Award (The G.I.V.E. Award). Owen has a passion for serving his community and making a difference, one child at a time. Owen continued on to MSU where he was a College of Education Ambassador and worked with the Homecoming and Pageants Committee. He also has remained active in his church. Owen currently serves as the youth commissioner for the Mississippi Commission for Volunteer Service. Owen Believes that before you can be good at anything you must first be a good person.