Valentine’s day is just around the corner and I am thinking of a book I read a few years ago – The 5 love languages by Gary Chapman. The premise of the book is simple: people are all different. With different personalities, they naturally express love in different ways. Gary called these ways of expressing and receiving love the “5 Love Languages.” They are Words of Affirmation, Acts of Service, Receiving Gifts, Quality Time, and Physical Touch. He says that each individual has at least one language that they prefer above the other… and this is where it gets interesting. Everyone gives and receives love differently. This is true for all forms of relationship – for married or dating couples, for children and teenagers, for friends and coworkers, for long-distance relationships, for those brand-new loves and for the romances that are older than the hills.
Having said that, acceptance and loving yourself is equally important. Unfortunately, a lot of people try to seek this validation and acceptance from others instead of finding it within themselves. So, let us shift the focus on love from within.
Find a quote or two about self- compassion, self-acceptance and love that resonates with you. Use this quote as the starting point for your art piece or a personal affirmation card. Art is the language of the heart. Here are a few tips to connect with the whisper in your heart.
-Take the time to face and clear your heavy feelings.
-Draw, write, run, sing – whatever feels most freeing to you!
-Create an image with a color that makes you feel happy.
-Listen to the tiny whisper in your heart, what is your heart longing for?
-Create something to represent this feeling.
-Hang it somewhere that you can look at it every day with a big smile.
-Decide to take steps each day so that you can have more of this feeling.
-Over time your heart whisper will turn into a heart song that will easily guide you!
-Moving forward, consult your heart in every decision that you make.
Here is my self- love art piece. I chose a few of the self- compassion quotes that I feel I need to focus on in my life and painted around them. For me, this process of creating my visual journal, integrating the quotes into the process of painting was a very meditative experience and it allowed me to take time to think about how I can live with more love and self-compassion. It is my anchor to remind me to practice a more loving and compassionate mindset to myself.
