Valentine's Day is coming up, which means your dinner plate will soon have yet another photo opp under its belt.
Countless swiping right and text messages left on the 'read' receipt will have likely contributed to a V-Day set up so ideal and desirable that even Barack Obama's post-presidential vacation tan photos couldn't stand a chance against 2017's cuffing season prospects.
On this day you will likely have put in a good two or three hours of putting that good juju in the air, beginning with the various toiletry playthings—eye shadow palettes and half-empty shea butter jars–crowding the real estate of your bathroom sink.
The froth from your bubble bath still lingering in the tub and your eco-friendly candle flickering even more ferociously than your first-date jitters, the mood cannot be any more exciting. Even your damp twist-out gets a free pass as you unravel it prematurely before slipping into your new pair of cone-heeled ankle boots and heading out the door in your entire glow. Snapchat will receive the most epic front-and-center look into a series of alluring, enticing, and appetizing photos. In true low-key fashion, you will be so exact with the angles that will leave every one of your followers on their own to answer the cliffhanger question: is she taken or nah? I say, what’s the harm in keeping them guessing?
Contrary to the aforementioned scenario, if you find the day passing by and you don't so much as move from the seat imprint on your couch and out of your adult onesie, that is also quite alright.
Stay inside and finish that book–or that season–with no distractions. Lounge around in your own head for a little while. Appreciate your solitude: take yourself on a date, spoiling yourself with chocolate-coated strawberries for self-care. Go to your mental and spiritual happy place, indulging in every single drop of it with no guilt.
The truth is, majestic and beautiful woman, no matter how well your Valentine's Day pans out, remember the importance of having fallen in love with yourself before this moment.
What seemed, in the past, like more alone time than socially recommended was actually preparation for you to bring forth nothing less than a blaring, unapologetic sense of self-worth and security to the dinner table, regardless if another human being is sitting across from it or not.
Do not succumb to the commercial or consumerist hype of Valentine's Day–make it whatever you want it to be. Just love yourself first and foremost, on this day and every single day.
Aye…
Don’t forget to let us know how the date went.
Follow me on Instagram @devrivelazquez
See my love for self-care through thrifting
This post was originally published on NaturallyCurly.
