Beauty and the Beast

Right now my newest deck of Oracle Cards, Wild Wisdom of the Faery Oracle is singing to me. I opened the cards excitedly hoping I would feel that wonderful feeling, the one that I can't explain, the one that whispers "These cards were meant to be held by you." Sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn't. There are several decks that I just don't connect with. When it does happen, I know that these cards hold truth and wisdom for me. That there is a connection, and that the readings that I do with them will be beautiful and true.

As I was looking through the cards, admiring the beautiful artwork, this card jumped out at me more than the others.

Beauty and the Beast. Unconditional love.

It reminded me of my favorite Disney Princess, Belle. I just loved her, she liked to read books, and I thought that she was the prettiest. What made me love her the most was that she fell in love with the Beast. She could see past appearances. It was the same reason that I loved Esmeralda and Quasimodo from the Hunchback of Notre Dame. I identified with the Beast and with Quasimodo, I always thought there was something wrong with me, something unlovable, and that to truly be loved by someone, they would have to see past all of my faults and all of the ugly things about me.

The thing about unconditional love, is that we have to give it first to ourselves.

We all have "ugly" sides, faults, mistakes, those parts of us that we hide from everyone else so that we can look perfect on the outside, or at least a little bit sane. You know what you really really REALLY need to know about that? Love yourself anyway. You're not perfect, you're never going to be perfect, so don't bother holding out on the love for something that's not going to happen. You unconditionally love your children, your partner, your family... unconditionally love you.

Right now you are worth loving.

So very much worth loving.

True Story.

Journaling Prompts: Do you love yourself unconditionally? What steps can you take to start loving yourself right now?