Loving My (Candy) Heart
Be True. LOL. Call me. I Love You.
Hello again dear friends!
I am going to keep this week short and sweet, just like candy heart messages, because I am sending this missive from the quiet and delightful hill country cabin that my hubs and I ran away to after dropping the happy kids with their Grams for the night.
Feeling the love! This brings me to an interesting love conundrum—I have been so lucky in love my whole life. I grew up with loving and supportive parents. I have loving siblings who I’ve maintained close bonds with throughout my childhood and into my adult life. I have had several true loves, and am now partnered to the best and truest of all. I have high hopes for this being the kind that lasts into old age. My heart literally feels too small to contain the bursting love I have for my kids as I watch them navigate the world. I am surrounded and astounded by the love in my life!
There are so many ways to experience love. You can give it, you can receive it, it can fall on you like a tiger pouncing on its prey or it can grow slowly over time, a giant redwood of love rooted and sprawling. All types can be hard to hang on to, and yet, for me, there is one person who is impossibly difficult to convince that I am worthy of loving. This person plays such an impactful and powerful role in my life, they are probably the most pressing and important love. Any guesses?? Yup, that’s right, that ever-present, unavoidable SELF. I do not hate myself, but Lordy, wouldn’t it be nice if I could love myself with just a fraction of the ease and forgiveness, the celebration and abandon with which I love other people?
I’ve been working on it, my whole life. It will be an eternal (ok, lifelong) struggle, and one that is worthy of my time and energy because it affects every other person who loves me. Also, I do the work because I hope it will help to give my children a better starting point for self-love. I want them to move through this wide wonderful world full of confidence and love.
I wrote myself a little love letter the other day, a day I was feeling particularly like a little cactus. I’ll stick it here in case you also need the reminder:
XOXO! Hope you are feeling the LOVE!
FROM THE STAX
**Hello! This week I have added affiliate links on titles below to my bookshop.org bookstore! This is so exciting for me, and a work in progress as I get my storefront up and running. If one of these becomes a favorite and you want to add it to your shelves, or if you are headed to a birthday party and need a good book to gift, consider using my links —with no extra charge on your end — and you get to support my newsletter and take home an awesome book!**
WE LOVE YOU, MR PANDA by Steve Antony
Mr. Panda is offering hugs, and all his sweet friends are too busy hugging one another to give him one - until they aren’t! If y’all don’t already know and love Mr. Panda, then you are in for a treat! This loveable and expressive (maybe a bit grumpy) bear and his simple and funny stories are always a best-loved book at our house whenever we check one out.
THE MERMAID MOON by Briony May Smith
A pair of best friends from different worlds, one dry land and one underwater, get one night a year —the night of the mermaid moon —to share their respective worlds. As long as everyone is back in their own homes before the moon dips over the horizon, then the magic of the mermaid moon will remain. This book is brimming with magic, adventure, and friendship. It is a perfect read to transport you into make-believe and we enjoyed the sweetness and depth of the two girls’ friendship, despite their world restrictions. Did it make me want to have a mermaid for a BFF? Yes.
PRINCESS SPARKLE-HEART GETS A MAKEOVER by Josh Schneider
One girl, one doll, and one very mischievous (and maybe jealous) dog. When the pup finally gets Princess Sparkle-Heart in his jaws, things get a little ugly. Don’t worry, Mom swoops in to fix Amelia’s favorite doll, but Amelia has some ideas about what Princess Sparkle-Heart needs to survive in this sometimes toothy world. My kids are newly obsessed with their stuffies, which they are calling their “cousins” and the love there is very very real. If you have a beloved stuffie at home, or a mischievous pup, this book will win over hearts and bring smiles.
SULWE by Lipito Nyong’o Illustrated by Vashti Harrison
Sulwe is feeling pretty down about her dark skin - she is darker than her sister, darker than her mother, darker than all her playmates, and sometimes she is bullied for it. When her mother sits her down and tells her beauty comes from within, the message is good, but finding that love is hard. Then a star falls into Sulwe’s room, takes her to the skies, and tells her a tale of day and night. This book tackles colorism, self-acceptance, and self-love and encourages children to recognize the necessity and benefit of having variety.
WORDY BIRDY by Tammi Sauer Illustrated by Dave Mottram
Wordy Birdy loves to….gab and chat and talk and talk and talk. Does she listen? Maybe not so much. One day her endless chatting, and failure to listen to her friends, while she walks through the woods gets her into a bit of a situation. But, despite their exasperation, her friends come to her rescue, as true friends do! This book is a favorite because of how much Wordy Birdy IS my family. My son loves to ask if I will sit with him because he “loves a conversation.” Y’all he gets it from somewhere, if ya catch my drift! We also love it because of the message of LOVE and friendship despite your quirks and flaws - Wordy Birdy doesn’t need to change, she is simply loved.
Hey friends - this week do me a favor and do a special something to love yourself.
Your self-love will be a mirror that reflects on those around you, and this will have lasting effects. You are a beautiful and magical human being deserving of all the good things.
Do something to spread the love share this newsletter with someone who will enjoy it!
Happy reading and see y’all next week!
This was a particularly poignant one for me as I have the same issues with self love. Doesn’t everyone? It is hard not to be critical and judgmental of yourself and it always seems to manifest itself in negativity. But this has been MY YEAR to practice self care, positivity and love and I am already feeling a difference. My outlook on life is better, on my self is better and I believe it will continue to bring positive changes to my life and to all those that I love 💕