LOVE YOURSELF

Once, when I was still a little humpty dumpty, I was expertly indoctrinated culturally by my big brother. I headbanged neatly to Nirvana, sang along with the lyrics of Guns ’n Roses, and laughed hard at the Hague cabaret artist Harrie Jekkers. My brother is now a gifted musician, I am the cultural barbarian of the family; there must be a difference. But I have never forgotten one song by Harrie: ‘I love myself’.
Harrie was quite a bit rigorous in his song, but he had a point. And that point is now being echoed by Selena Gomez wherever she can. Yes, it seems like a crazy combo: Harrie and Selena, but the message sounds quite the same. Love yourself (you should go and pompidom), don't care about what others think of you, and please don't look at all that social perfection. Harrie had no idea about that last one behind his little organ on that stage, but hey, he certainly had a clue.
The millennials, yes there they are again, who were placed on this planet somewhere between the eighties and the turn of the century, love themselves the most. And let Selena (and this lady here too, by the way) be a millennial. If you belong to this generation, you have learned to love yourself, but also to be kind to yourself. And all the home, garden, and kitchen psychologists say that you must first love yourself before you can love another. But I want to give a thumbs up for Selena. How noble and sweet is it to jump in for this cause everywhere? Well, very, I thought too. So on behalf of Selena, here are ten tips to love yourself just a little more.
1. Buy a leather notebook for yourself, with the most beautiful handmade paper and write down something good you did every day.
2. Does someone give you a compliment? Accept it, don't brush it off.
3. Treat yourself to something nice. A donut, that truffle risotto, red velvet cake...
4. Pamper yourself at a spa or at the nail bar or go to the hairdresser; do something nice for yourself. Hey, it really all starts with being kind.
5. Gift yourself the most beautiful bouquet of flowers and do that every week.
6. Make an Instagram book (the ones from HEMA are nice) and see how fun your life is.
7. And don't be so hard on yourself, because it really isn't necessary.
8. Try to smile at everything for a day.
9. Download ‘I love myself’ by Harrie Jekkers and listen to it.
10. Play your favorite songs in the morning, then you'll swing into the day so nicely.

And because you can really say ‘I love you’ sometimes, here it comes: ‘I only say I love you in front of the mirror, because that's how ‘I love you‘ comes back to myself.’ And then you love of course everyone, or almost everyone then.