I am here with you. I am here with you, I say to myself in a gentle lullaby. I will keep you safe.
I adore this poem by Ijeoma Umebinyuo. It says so much about radical self-love and its tenderness. “I bathe her, I play her some jazz, I feed her, I weep for her,” she writes about what she does for her lover, herself, on the days when she fears she cannot comprehend her light.
I also appreciate the way she describes that type of love as being in love. It isn’t often that I see self-love framed in that way. Yes to radical-in-love-with-self-love!
***
The first of many radical-in-love-with-self letters to myself:
Dear L,
What are you believing about the world, about yourself? What are you taking in and internalizing that’s isn’t yours? What is keeping you from seeing your worth, your shine?
I vow to nourish and care for you every day. To help you remember your wholeness and value. To love you radically. The parts that don’t know their worth. The parts that don’t believe in love. The parts in full protective gear to protect themselves from the world and also in part from me.
I vow to love you without end, a love that hums a glow into all the places that have lost their ability to shine. I love you. I am here with you. I am here with you. And I’m not going anywhere, I say to myself in a gentle lullaby. I will always be here with you, my love.
—lissa
