Embracing Your Identity as a Flower – The Love Project

Think of yourself as a flower growing in the soil. Before you bloom there is a beautiful process that occurs, essential for growth and development. I like to think that the process before a flower blooms is the most important part because it’s fabricating its entire identity all on its own. The roots that form in the soil are the foundation of how the flower will sprout and eventually bloom for the world to see. Therefore, it’s truly what lies beneath the ground that determines how the flower shares itself with all who will open their eyes, ears, and hearts to enjoy it. Overall, loving who you are is the root to loving others and it all begins with how you move through the dirt to find the sunlight.

I think a very important part to loving all that you entail occurs when you can develop an unbreakable wall of love for yourself. No amount of negative energy could dent the volume of gratitude and love that fills every ounce of who you are. And I believe that time, healing and acceptance play a significant role in manifesting a positive relationship with oneself. For this reason, it has taken me a very long time to come to the conclusion that regardless of where life takes me, I should find gratification and peace with the person I was, the person I am and who I’ve yet to become.

Apart from this realization, I experienced many difficult moments in my life where I had trouble finding the love for myself. Because of that, I made the unhealthy choice of self–harming. It was horrifying to find comfort in an activity that was destroying me, but it is also just as horrifying to reflect back on those moments knowing that I put myself through such emotional and physical pain. However, I have learned through my toughest days that I am both worthy and capable of loving myself. And if I want to be of service to others and spread love so freely, I must accept every part that represents my flower.

“Love to me, in terms of self-love is learning to be comfortable with yourself before you love anyone else. I am realizing now through self-love that I am good enough. This is why now I believe that to truly experience love you must first experience self-love. Loving yourself for who you are, your imperfections, your weaknesses and the things that make you, you.” – Kallie Lamirande

To do this, we must be able to freely express who we are, “Self love is self-expression.” – Emma Cory

Express yourself in a way that will make you the happiest. Sometimes this concept is easier said than done because we may focus on how others view us and shape ourselves to impress them rather than be who we really are. But the truth is, there is only one you on this planet and you should not have to cut your identity into pieces just to fit into someone else’s puzzle. There is a line between making sacrifices for someone else’s needs in the name of love and destroying who you are. Nevertheless, allow yourself space and time to grow and nourish your foundational roots until they bloom. Then when you can recognize and appreciate who you are, others shall admire your confidence and love all the qualities that makeup your identity.

“Loving yourself should come first! The right person will see you and love you for it, and in turn help you become the best version of yourself.” – Hannah Natrasony

On that note, each one of us are flawed human beings. You may look at the person sitting next to you and think they are a perfect individual, but the reality of this is that we all have a ‘behind the scenes’ reel we choose to keep private. I think many people struggle with the idea that the ‘grass is always greener on the other side’. We seem to visualize everyone’s life as perfect and forget that a happy-go-lucky facial expression is a surface level viewpoint. Therefore, in order to surpass any discouraging thought that comes to mind, one must realize that comparison is a game that never has a winner.

Another idea that is relevant to accepting one’s flaws is: people make mistakes everyday and these mistakes do not dictate our entire lives. Our wounds can be acknowledged as a small part of our existence, but they are not defined as our life’s entirety. People can make changes every day to become what they envision themselves as and this is important because we are never actually ‘stuck’ in a place we can’t transform to fit our needs. The beauty to living is that each day is a new set of opportunities you can choose to accept and create. Altogether, accepting our mistakes and ability to manifest change is an act of self-love because it reveals the first step to welcoming our flaws as a part of who we are and learning from them to move forward.

“Loving yourself can be difficult at times. We tend to be overly critical of our flaws. We must value our self and realize how far we’ve come.” – Tegan Jones

Someone once caught me off guard by telling me I am flawless. I stood there in awe knowing they meant it as a compliment, but I could not fake a smile for something that shows ignorance towards the standard of beauty for mankind. Our flaws should be collected with open arms instead of trying to mask them with the term “flawless”. It’s unacceptable and creating a standard that is non-existent for all of humanity rather than accepting our imperfections as an act of self-love. However, I was able to learn that it is what each of us define as beautiful that truly matters because the word itself calls upon an infinite range of diverse opinions revealing grace in everyone. Overall, we should embrace our differences and further build an unbreakable wall of love for ourselves without the need to mask our identity for the sake of others.

Furthermore, our actions and the way we treat people are a direct mirror to how we view ourselves. Consciously, we bond with those who demonstrate similar beliefs, qualities, and behaviours in which we see parts of ourselves. This explains why we are attracted to specific individuals. Therefore, what we give to the world is reflected back to us through the people within our lives. So, if we are choosing to focus on a quality in someone who surfaces negative emotions, it could also be a direct connection to a personality trait that you have failed to recognize within yourself. All in all, I have found power and a measure of confidence whilst befriending my flaws looking deep into the mirror, as opposed to pretending they are not there. Because after all, a flower is able to flourish when it accepts its environment and allows the proper nutrients to feed its biological structure.

Written by Tessa R. Adamski