For as long as I can remember I have associated a bouquet of flowers with romance and the symbol of someone else’s love. I remember when my Dad bought my Mum flowers for Valentine’s day. It felt so romantic and honestly, I think that I was more excited about it than my Mum!⠀
Fast forward to my teenage years- Each year a group of students would organise roses for people to give to their crushes anonymously. It was cheesy… but I still wanted to be on the receiving end of one of those roses. That flower symbolised that I was someone worthy of being fancied. On Valentine’s day, a student would come to your class and give out the roses to whoever had been sent one. I remember feeling this wave of excitement while also trying to maintain my teenage apathy on the outside. I didn’t want to seem eager. I still remember the feeling I got when I didn’t receive a rose… it was like a whirl of not feeling good enough and embarrassment. It makes me red-faced to admit all of this… ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Then, a year came when I did receive a rose! My name was called and I was handed a single red rose. I looked around the room and some people were smiling at me while others were wearing their apathy masks. I thought that I would feel some sort of amazing feeling once receiving a rose but I didn’t feel any different. Maybe it was because I was getting older or because I had my own money to buy myself a rose but I remember thinking “Damn I am so stupid, who cares about a fecking rose?”. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
The point of this story is that you don’t need to wait for someone else to buy you flowers. Your own love and validation is worth WAAAAAY more than anyone else’s. So, what would happen if you dared to be the person who shows you love?⠀⠀
YOU CAN buy yourself flowers this Valentine’s day or dare I say it… even put on some nice lingerie for YOURSELF! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Because let’s face it, receiving the love of someone is wonderful… BUT what if you didn’t need someone else’s love to validate your self-worth? What if you fell in love with yourself this Valentine’s day? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I know, it may seem like a wildly foreign concept but here’s the thing, I used to not like my body. I used to always feel like I was too fat and needed to lose weight. I didn’t want anyone (let alone the world) to see the fuller parts of my body or the silver stretch marks covering my hips. I hid it all away under loose clothes. But here’s the truth, I wasn’t hiding away from the world, I was hiding from myself. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I dare you to show yourself some love this Valentine’s day. Buy yourself the flowers, chocolates, or cook yourself a fancy dinner. Do it for you.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Over the next week, I will be sharing images from my photo series collaboration ‘Buy yourself the flowers’ with the wonderful photographer Helena Staniszewka. You can find more of the images on my Instagram account.