Full-time Self-love

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Full-time Self-love

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you love yourself all the time.

20/01/2024

Throwback to that one summer day ☀️ when I was brave enough to enter a coffee shop ☕️ and have a latte, while my baby 👶🏾 was sitting right next to me, needing 100000 types of entertainment in the 10 minutes it took for my drink to be ready and the 30 seconds 🕐 it took me to gulp it down and rush out, before my daughter lost her patience entirely... Quite the experience, which is why I never repeated it since. But I am winding up the courage 💪🏻 to try it again. Because I miss and they're work friendly 👩🏻‍💻 as well as baby friendly 🍼, so you got the best of all coffee worlds.

20/01/2024

I've been feeling a bit off 😕 these past couple of weeks... tired 😩 and helpless 😓 and all of the damsel in distress kind of emotions... which made me a bit apathetic and bored. Today, I had the insight that boredom comes from the inside, and it's merely a reflexion 🪞 of our inner world, of our mindset and our point of view 🔎 on life and the events unfolding around us. So, time for a shift of narrative over on my end.

18/12/2023

You know you've done something right when your toddler 👶🏾 (yes! we've moved into toddlerhood now 🥳) starts the morning of her 1st birthday 🎂 on your yoga mat 🧘🏻‍♀️, practising the downward-facing dog 🐕 pose (followed by a cow pose 🐄). Our quest to learn about farm animals is on a whole different level 🤭. Happy birthday, my happiness, happy birthday, light of my life ⭐️, may the blessings come to you in an infinite stream 🌊!

18/12/2023

The light of yoga 🧘🏻‍♀️ was lit within me by the grace of my beloved Prananadi Master ✨️, and now, in my own humble way, I am passing down the flame 🕯 onto my daughter 👶🏾. How? By simply practising in front of her. I was considering doing it while she's in daycare 🤔, to spare her from 'wasting' precious time with me. But I figured quality time is also learning that her mother needs time to herself 💓, time to recharge her batteries 🔋 and to do things that are good for her soul. And it seems to be catching on 🥳. Because in our little family, we're all about learning to love ourselves ALL the time ⏳️.

18/12/2023

My gift 🎁 to myself, for my 33rd birthday 🎂, was to birthe an amazing little human 👶🏾. A year ago today, Tara ⭐️ came into my life and flipped it upside-down, in the best of ways, and at times, in the worst of ways. It has taken me longer than the time I was pregnant 🤰🏻 to remember my fundamental self-care routines 🧘🏻‍♀️, but once I did, it became all the more obvious that I needed to enforce them with all the determination 💪🏻 and the self-love I was ever capable of 💖. So what if the butt is bigger? It can still do a downward-facing dog 🐕 and it's something that I want to be able to offer my daughter: a mother who's working to better herself and to feel better with herself 🪞. Because self-love is taught at home 🏡.

14/12/2023

Sip & Paint 🎨... not enough sippin' this time around, but hey, my hand-eye coordination 👁 was impressive, to say the least 😅. Ladies and gents, the masterpiece 🖼.

14/12/2023

Yesterday evening, I added a visual entry 🎨 in my diary of experiences. I have felt somewhat voided of creative talent over the past year, being fully in survival mode 💪🏻, with little space for spirit to be manifesting itself ✨️. So, even if for three hours 🕒, I felt recharged 🔋 by this contact with my inner world, with my interests and passions and with the things that bring me joy 🥳. And that, good people, is self-love at its fullest 🌟.

13/12/2023

Couldn't be more excited with my first 🎨 experience over at . Once I got out of my comfort zone 📦 and embraced the very likely scenario that, contrary to my unrealistic expectations 🧠, I might not excel at EVERYTHING (especially things I never tried before... 🖌), I had quite a lot of fun 🥳 just enjoying the process. And, with a glass of wine 🍷 accompanying my creative process (definitely the only acceptable way to make art 🖼), I had what can easily be defined as an evening of self-love ❤️.

01/12/2023

After dropping my baby 👶🏾 over in daycare today, I had this immense craving for a cup of coffee ☕️. One that I'd be sipping on while the foam ☁️ is still frothy, while the cup is still warm and soothing... Not the kind that you forget about on the kitchen counter between diaper changes, replying to e-mails 👩🏻‍💻, preparing lunch for the kid 🥕, picking up the toys 🧸 from around the living room floor and so on. And, when I got home, I did just that. Made myself a fabulous cup of hazelnut latte (❗️remember this if you wanna impress me with my favourite cafeinated beverage 😉) and had it right then and there. If that's not self-love, I don't know what is...

30/11/2023

Sometimes, a full-time mother can't afford to take a vacation ✈️. But she can, and should, take a break ⏱️ when she can no longer take it. The past couple of months have been pretty crazy, and I've been feeling increasingly bad 😢 about myself, about motherhood, about my perspectives, about the challenges of life in general. Instagram had become somewhat of a torture 😓, because it made me feel compelled to share about myself in order to keep up with the world. It made me feel like I had to find at least some glimpse of hope or positivity 🥳 in my life because I'm known for my optimism. Well, guess what, people❗️Sometimes life sucks 👎🏻and that's OK. Sometimes we're hurting, we're disappointed 😞, we're sad, we're tired. And that's OK. And even if we're not OK, the world won't stop in place to hold us. We need to make space and hold ourselves 🤲🏻. And getting away from all the noise, from all the distractions, from things that are fake or not authentic - even when that happens to be yourself, it's a very raw and much necessary form of self-love ❤️.

29/11/2023

Hey, World 🌎 Missed me?

19/09/2023

In the 1940s, a psychosocial experiment known as the 'Clark doll test' 🪆 was organised, highlighting the ways in which racism 🙅🏻‍♀️ impacted the self-perception of African-American children 👧🏿.
Today, as I was shopping for my baby 👶🏾, I had the unpleasant experience 😒 of overhearing an older woman 👵🏻 poke fun at the Black dolls on display, even calling her (adult) son to show him the 'ugly' toys 🧸. All while my daughter was in her stroller, right next to the dolls... Unfortunately, it is illegal 👮🏻‍♀️ to punch old women... 😑, but this certainly rang all soft of alarms 🚨 in my mind, as to what self-love is.
I have been contemplating buying one of these for my baby, and after today's episode 😤 I am all the more certain I will, because no child of mine 💕 will ever live in self-doubt, simply because of the colour of her skin. And as it turns, out, I have some lessons of my own 💡 to learn from here.

19/09/2023

I am unhappy 🙁 with myself again. With my body weight ⚖️. With the way my extra weight deforms my shape ⏳️. Unhappy even with the way I feel about myself when I look in the mirror 🪞, unhappy with how little time I have to look after myself. Unhappy with the choices I make about my wellbeing ✨️, unhappy with my absolutely terrible coping mechanisms 🍔. Just... unhappy overall 😔. And then, I had an epiphany today 💡 while shopping for Tara 🌟 and remembered that no good has ever come from being mad 😡 at yourself, nor did anyone start liking themselves more ❤️ while despising themselves and having a negative 👎🏻 self-image.

15/09/2023

12 years ago today, I was first setting foot 👣 on Belgian soil 🇧🇪. Coming and going 🌀, never quite sure where life would take me next, yet I've somehow always felt at home 🏡 here. Now, there's a little treasure 💎 in my life 👶🏽 who's learning to call me 'mamma' 🤱🏻, and who's making this country more home than ever before 💕. Here's to the next 120 🍾.

🇧🇪

12/09/2023

Tara 🌟 is doing everything in her power to take me out of my comfort zone. Making me interact with people 🗣, making me go places, in order to compensate for all the boring 😑 and repetitive things we're doing (like going for the same stroll in the same park 🌳, day after day), making me do things I have never thought I'd do 🤡 in order to offer her the entertainment she needs... Suffice it to say, there's not a dull moment 🥱, at least not for me... It is rather strange 🤔 to be always with someone and at the same time to feel so alone. But then, a diaper change, a feeding 🍼, a tango dance 💃🏻 , a walk 🚶🏻‍♀️, a bath 🛁 and a bedtime story 😴 later... you know you've done what had to be done, and you didn't have time to get bored.

12/09/2023

This is just for you to know who the actual boss 💲 of the house is... not that there were any doubts about it, I'm sure 👶🏽. Self-love these days is accepting that I'm far from the perfect mother 👩🏻‍🍼. I'm short tempered 😤, lose my cool very quickly at times 🤬, tend to get very impatient when things don't go according to plan (to be read: MY WAY 👩🏻‍⚖️) and on top of that I also need to work, so I spend a lot of my baby time doing job stuff 👩🏻‍💻, which for Tara can become very annoying 😒 or very frustrating 😠 very quickly... Because, guess what? 😅 She's just as impatient as her mama 🤦🏻‍♀️. So, I do my best to offer her quality time 💞 whenever we spend time together, and especially when the weather is lovely ☀️ and we can still explore and sit in the grass 🍀 and look at the blue sky, even if it's only for an hour, at lunchtime...

02/09/2023

Playing 🧸 is a natural act of human expression. It is our innate manner of experiencing our surroundings 🌱 and of discovering new things 🔎 about our inner and outer world 🌎. Somehow, as we grow up, we tend to forget how to play, and we lose our playfulness along the way 😔, wasting such a wonderful talent that we are all born with. The gift 🎁 of curiosity 🤔 and the joy of learning 📖 new things are the foundation of play. Or the other way around... either way, go out and play, dear people 🎉.

02/09/2023

Saturday: the opportunity to do what you've been doing all week 🗓, but guilt-free. Since my return to (tele)work 👩🏻‍💻, I understood that for a new mother, the work-life balance ⚖️ will inevitably tip in favour of play 🎉 and being there for your kid 👶🏽, mostly when they need you, but sometimes, even when they don't. Rediscovering the joys of being in a ballpit 🫧, I kinda wish office spaces were this fun 🎊. And nobody can tell me it's a bad idea 💡! So, today, we play hard, because that's our job 💪🏻.

14/08/2023

Weeds are flowers, too, once you get to know them 🌿. What's there to feel other than utter awe 😍 when you spot this little gem 💎 surrounded by all its other w**d friends? She doesn't even need any introduction, just minding her own business ☀️, gracefully drying her petals, and charming the passers-by... When I grow up, I want to be this poppy ❤️.

13/08/2023

The comfort zone is ego zone 🙅🏻‍♀️. It is a place where all our fear 😨, anguish, self-doubt, self-blame, and self-pity take the best of us and make us feel unworthy 😔 and vulnerable. That stops us from taking challenges, from stepping up, from growing 🌱 and discovering our infinite strength 💪🏻. Or simply from enjoying life 🎉.
So today, my journey out of the comfort zone took roughly 15 minutes ⏰️ on the clock, and my destination was a local café. It was the first time since Tara was born that I had a latte ☕️ and a piece of cake 🍰 at a proper table, not 'to-go' or in the furthest place of the terrace, for fear my baby 👶🏽 might act up and disturb other customers...
I have lived in fear of disturbing other people all my life. F**k that 🖕🏼! A girl deserves to treat herself, no matter who's bothered by it 🤷🏻‍♀️.

09/08/2023

One of my mother's favourite songs is 'Red Shoes' 👠 by Kelly Family . She always listens to it, tears in her eyes 😢, considering it her absolute anthem of freedom 🕊 and female empowerment 💄.
For me, this red dress 💃🏻 has become practically among the only outfits I'm wearing on a nearly daily basis 🗓, because it's one of the few things in my wardrobe that still fits... a leftover from before my weight loss 📉 and vanity of renewing my whole wardrobe with a size which now I can barely fit on one leg... 🤦🏻‍♀️.
But this red dress 💃🏻 allows me to get out of the house, to go run errands 🛒, to go shop 🛍 (for baby clothes, as I'm living vicariously through my 7 months old daughter 👶🏽 and projecting all of my fashion ideas onto her 🪞), to have a walk in the park 🌳 without hiding of shame behind the same old black clothes 🐈‍⬛️ which always become my main choice of a hideout 🥷🏻 when I am unhappy with my body. A red dress... a way of showing self-love ❤️ when self-love is so scarce...

27/07/2023

I admit, I'm going waaaaaaay overboard with the toys 🧸 and entertainment options I'm offering Tara. I do, however, try to keep her toys 🪀 simple and educational 👩🏾‍🎓, making sure she'll learn skills and be able to play with her toys creatively rather than in one, single, and specific way. Musical instruments 🪇, sensory books 📚, puzzles 🧩 and some teething toys 🦷 are mostly what I opted for, with the exception of some balls ⚽️ and bubbles 🫧, because they are awesome and everyone loves them 🎉... And somehow, she still seems to find my body 🖐🏻 to be the most fun and interactive thing to play with 😆.

25/07/2023

So, my daughter's learning to give kisses 💋. Sticky, wet 🤤, sloppy, can't-live-without kisses 😍. And just like her mother, she's also very passionate 🔥, which means a fair amount of hair pulling is involved. Which is why, mama needs to find creative ways 💡 to encourage manifestations of love ❤️, all while preventing pain 😟 and the ever more likely chance of going bald 🧑🏻‍🦲in the near future. Gladly, I remember a thing or two about wrapping a headscarf 🧕🏻 in a matter of moments... And somehow, Tara ⭐️ still manages to find the baby hairs 👶🏽 and to pull on to them 🤷🏻‍♀️. Alas, I feel pretty and relatively safe... and that's one of the little ways in which I practice self-love as a mother 👩🏻‍🍼.

09/07/2023

A few weeks back 📅 I felt it was time to encourage Tara ⭐️ to be seated on the floor, as opposed to the sofa 🛋. It felt as if she was thinking, "What took you so long? 😕 Now, I can finally play in peace 🎉". Along with sitting came some new toys 🪀, which most certainly offered great motivation to maintain the position and enjoy the games, as you can well see. Fast forward to this weekend, I rearranged the furniture 🛏 at home three times today in an attempt to make room for a massive playpen 🧸 (which leaves practically no room for anything else in the house 🤦🏻‍♀️).
I consider this an investment 💰 in my own peace of mind, knowing my baby 👶🏽 will be safe in an enclosed space where there are no outlets or power cables 🔌she can grab onto, while I'm trying to work 👩🏻‍💻. Self-love as a mother 👩🏻‍🍼 is making sure your kid is well so that you may relax as well 😌.

08/07/2023

During my traineeship at the European Commission 🇪🇺, I had the fortune of having a supervisor who believed in me and created incredible opportunities for me to grow 🌱 and expand my professional prospects. Fast forward several years later, she is now 💭 and she's spent over an hour yesterday to help me get out of my head 🤯 and redefine my self-limiting beliefs in order to free myself 🦅 from scarcity mentality, on all levels, especially the emotional one. Infinite gratitude 🙏🏻 to every instance in which support manifests itself in my life 💞, abundantly and generously, in order to make my life easy and to bring the sunshine ☀️ right back.

04/07/2023

As I was getting ready for my company's summer party 🎉 I couldn't help but feel guilty 😫. Guilt is a feeling new mothers experience often, if not permanently. I can't help but (over)think 🤯 about all the ways in which I could do better as a mother and fail 👎🏻. I feel guilty when I use the toilet 🚽 and leave my baby 👶🏽 alone in her crib, guilty when I eat 🍫 all kinds of crap in front of her while trying to teach her a healthy diet, guilty when I spend time on my phone instead of playing 🧸 with her, guilty when I leave her with my mum or my sister and run errands or spend some time with myself. Last week, I restarted work 👩🏻‍💻 and now I'm also feeling guilty about being on my laptop 💻 and trying to get work done while she's next to me asking for attention. The guilt game is a game one can't possibly win. So, this evening, with a little push from my friend and guardian angel 😇 .elearning, I joined the crew over at where I had one, two, many cocktails 🍹. After the second Pornstar Martini most of the guilt was gone 😅 and what was left was infinite gratitude 🙏🏻 to my amazing mum , who kept my daughter safe 🧷 and entertained 🎹 one more time, while I enjoyed a well-deserved evening out. Because as much as you may love your kid ❤️, you should also love yourself enough to take a break and remember to be yourself, a woman, an employee 💪🏻, a colleague... and not only a mother 👩🏻‍🍼.

13/06/2023

'Why sleep in my crib when there's all this place in mama's bed 🛌 I can push her out of?'
Those may not be the exact words, but I'm pretty sure that's what my baby 👶🏽 must be thinking. Despite my firm disproval during her first months of life, we ended up co-sleeping 🫛. Most of the time, she sleeps on a small mattress that I've placed in my bed, in order to make sure she's safely wrapped in her own space 🌯 and I wouldn't end up rolling over her. But lately, she's outgrowing the mattress, so our new sleeping arrangements look something like this 📸: I move to the furthest corner, to make sure she's got plenty of room, and she somehow tosses and turns her way over, and ends up glued to me 💞... And somehow, beyond the anxiety 😱 of the potential harm I could cause her, having her little hands 🖐🏽 touch me in her sleep is the most comforting feeling possible ❤️.

13/06/2023

Turns out, a rhetorical cry for help 📢 brings about the most wonderful of surprises 🎉: support and encouragement from darling people that you're often too self-absorbed to keep close 💞, people who are good to you, people who raise you up 👆🏻, the kind of people we all need in our lives.
Ever since I announced my pregnancy 🤰🏻, many wonderful ladies I know have reached out, brought tons of gifts 🎁 for Tara, tons of advice 💭 for me, infinite blessings of support for us both, as we take this mother-daughter 👶🏽 journey together.
Women are the source of life and comfort and love on this lonely little planet 🌏 of ours. The support system a woman may find in her sisters 🌻 is nothing short of magical.
This is to express my infinite gratitude for the love ❤️ you've shared. I slept better, and I'm back in the game today 💪🏻. What's more, I learned that I'm no longer afraid to ask for help when need it 🙏🏻.

12/06/2023

A few moments before this photo, I was crying my eyes out... and suspecting myself of post-partum depression and then self-doubting 🤔 on whether post-partum depression can kick in 6 months after you've had your baby 👶🏽. And then thinking this photo could be used for my funeral, in case I died... 🥀.
A few hours before that, I busted myself telling my overheated and overtired crying baby, I'd end up killing either her or myself 🔪 if she continued to scream 😭. I apologised of course, and assured her I loved her ❤️.
Lately I've been thinking about death a lot, playing different scenarios in my mind 🤯 of how I'd be run over by a car, something would fall on my head 🪴 or I'd end up passing out in the street from tiredness.
I'm also doubting myself a lot, and I am constantly feeling like the lousiest mother ever, for not being able to fulfil all the tasks at hand, or for needing time for myself (which I barely get...). On top of all that, I absolutely dread 🤦🏻‍♀️ my return to work, just 2 weeks from now.
Anxiety 😱, depression 😞, stress 😩, fatigue 😫, disappointment, frustration 🫤 ... all these influence a mother's capacity to be a mother, to be the mother she wants to be 🪞, to be the mother her child deserves her to be: the best she can be. Downward-going mental health 🧠 in new mothers really can't be discussed enough...

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Self-love is not about only loving yourself 🪞. It also includes loving your surroundings, and offering constant proofs of love 🎁 to the beings that make our lives happier 🎉 and fuller. I spent the afternoon yesterday building 👷🏻‍♀️ a cat playground for my furry baby 🐱. She seemed rather unimpressed at first 🤨 but continued her explorations early this morning ☀️. And nothing says self-love like enjoying a moment of complicity 💕. #reels #reelsinstagram #reel #reelsvideo #reeloftheday #reelinstagram #reelslovers #reelsinsta #reelitfeelit #cat #cats #catsofinstagram #catlover #catlovers #catloversclub #catlove #catstagram #kitty #kitten #kittens #kitties #petsofinstagram #petlovers #pet #petlover #petstagram #mood #vibes

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