I was asked recently to create a bio for my blog for one of my social media sites, Pinterest. It asked me to create one sentence that ties the vision for my blog up with a pretty pink bow, and I chose this:

“A self-empowering beauty and lifestyle blog that focuses on self-love and building a healthy, happy life.”

The funniest part? I was really intimidated by the idea that one sentence was going to speak for my entire blog as a whole. I thought it was impossible. But actually, I started typing and that’s what came of it. First try, no drafts.

It then got me thinking about what exactly self-love means to me. It made me question what I meant by that. I want to portray myself in a light that is true and accurate to the real Carson, the real me - in other words, I want what you read to be exactly what I’d say if you were standing in front of me asking me the same question. Does that make sense? I read so many blogs that it’s really easy to pick out the ones who are simply writing to write. Reviewing to review. Posting to post. There are others, though, where you just get a true sense of passion and honesty through their words. Those are the blogs I gravitate towards most.

Anyway, I digress. Self-love to me is something that I built over time. I remember writing a post last year about my personal experiences with anxiety, you can read that here if you’d like. In that post, I wrote about the ups and downs, the struggles associated with social anxiety, and what it was like to lose myself for years at a time. I didn’t know who I was. I didn’t know what I wanted because I was constantly surrounded by the fear that someone may disagree with me or openly judge me for my decisions. I was so afraid of feeling embarrassed.

When I wrote that post, I mentioned that I wasn’t out of the woods yet. I was still grappling with the idea that anxiety might just cripple me for life.

After having gone through such strenuous, anxiety-ridden years, I really had to put everything aside and focus on myself. Self-love, to me, does not only represent one’s own acceptance. It also represents the ability to be confident in your decisions and follow through.

Do you like that dress in a color that your mother or best friend told you was not the best color on you? Buy it. Do you have feelings for someone who your best friend doesn’t think is good enough for you? Follow your heart, but respect yourself enough to deal with the outcome - positive or negative. Grow and maintain your independence - but the key here is to always promise yourself that you will turn back when things aren’t right.

Self-love, to me, is about self-respect and an understanding that you come first. Believe that with your whole heart and you will lead yourself to happiness.

XO,

Carson Elaine

Please share this post if you know someone who may benefit.

It's so funny, actually. If I wear my hair in a different style everyone's like, "Carson! Holy crap! You look great!" and I'm like, "...Thank you? All I did was wash my hair."