How to Love Oneself

I get really scared sometimes. I get lonely and sad. I hate looking in a mirror. Even when I'm not having a bad day, even when I don't feel forgotten, I hate looking at myself. I hate the way I look and I cannot fathom how anyone could ever think otherwise. And my inability to see myself as you see me truly upsets me. I wish I could see the beauty in myself. I try so hard to, it's just a bit too hard sometimes. I feel like a burden sometimes and then I look in the mirror and I don't want to be around me. So why would you? Sometimes I wish you'd be a bit more vocal about these kinds of things because as much as I hate to admit it, part of me still needs to hear that you like the way I look or my company or my giggle. I'm really trying to get better, to see myself in a new light. One day I will be fully confident and assured of myself. But right now... I get a little lost. And I'm not entirely sure who I am. I've found myself wishing that I could have seen you last year, when you were a little less developed and a little unsure of yourself. I guess I feel as though everyone knows who they are except me. I'm still trying to feel out the waters. I'm still trying new things and experimenting, and everyone else seems to have already tried everything without me. So yes, I guess I do feel alone. Out of place, always. I feel that I'm behind on these experiences that everyone else has already had. Everyone else has grown up without me. Will I always be a lost boy? I wish I knew who I really was.
Sometimes I wish someone could write a paragraph describing me, faults included. I wish they'd write at the end "you're perfect and I love everything about you." Maybe I need to do that. Because I need to learn how to love me. I need to learn how to not be afraid anymore. I need to learn how to cast away my fears.
I guess it's worth a shot...


My name is Cassandra and I have tears in my eyes as I write this. I've been told that allowing yourself to cry just proves that you're strong. Maybe my tears are something to be proud of. I'm a dreamer. It's funny because... Previously, I always knew I was a dreamer. But somewhere along the past few years, I lost my ability to dream. This is the first time I've admitted that I still can. This is the first time I've admitted that I will always be a wide-eyed little dreamer. And despite however large and rash my dreams may seem, I will reach every single one. I don't give up. No matter how many nights I spend falling apart in my bed, I always manage to get up in the morning. Because I am a dreamer and each day is waking into a bright new dream. These dreams are my lighthearted sighs stolen beneath the moon and the way I tend to find myself captivated by you. I wear my heart on my sleeve. My emotions seem to be much more extreme than my peers. I'm not simply happy or sad, I'm exuberant or depressed. However, this allows me to grasp at life and throw my hands in the air - whether from joy or surrender. I'm a human being and I embrace every emotion. I take deep breaths to clear my head and cry happy tears when I witness other people receiving the things they deserve. I love noticing the breathtaking colors that the universe has given us, or when my gaze falls upward and I take in enormity of this magnificent universe. I get scared, yes. But I face my fears. I face my fears and often in doing so, I find myself. I remember my love of books and words. The fact that I'm always looking a word up in the dictionary or for a story to hear. I find myself in the songs I find escaping my lips on a daily basis. My devotion to celebrating the world through art and words. Sometimes I almost forget my love of children and the way caring for them makes me glow. I always find myself in their bubbly little faces. I find myself in the way time stops with you. The way I want nothing more than to lay with you and feel your essence. The way I all too often pour my soul out to you. Sometimes it's a series of too many text messages, or crying over the tiny things, or asking you to come give me a hug. But at least I'm (apparently) good at communication. And even with tears running down my cheeks, I am beautiful. I have a love of all things in the world, an ability to genuinely try and succeed in finding the magnificence in every situation. I am a fighter and a lover. A protector of everyone I love. A protector of the people that I may not know. Some people have called me selfless, but it's not even that. I'm just being me. I'm being Cassie and trying my hardest to do anything I can to make any other living thing just a little bit happier. Even if it is just for a few moments. And that is truly rare, to make such an effort for such a small feat. I am unique. Maybe even my own work of art, "The dreamer who cries of happiness at other's fortunes," "the green-eyed soul who will do anything to make you smile," "the tiny giant who will create something worth remembering," One day I will change the world. One day, I will inspire another girl, similar to me, to do the same. One day I'll inspire her to not be afraid to dream. I am crying much harder now, but... There's something beautiful about my mind. I'm so scared to like myself. Why?  I am a human being and there is something about the way my eyes light up when I'm happy and my cheeks get sore from smiling and I could float away on a single moment. There's something so special about existence, about my existence. I am unique and unprecedented. And I am beautiful. The gestalt me is beautiful, even on the outside. There's no one else in this world like me. I am perfect as I am. Perfect as Cassandra or Cassie or Cassafrass. Perfect as my being and soul. I am finding myself... And I love myself. I love who I am.


I am trying to learn how to love myself.

“We are all future butterflies who think, wrongly, that we are just slugs. And we are evolving, whether we admit it or not, into something else. Something with wings.” — Jeffrey J. Kripal

Have I told you how magnificent the world we live in is? I've been having an incredibly rough few weeks, but I just made a decision that has lifted a load off of my shoulders. I've decided not to go on the service trip. After a very grueling day filled with crying over stress, and eventually starting to get sick, I realized that it'd be stupid of me to go. I'm starting to get sick because I am stressing over studying, which means that by the end of the week, I doubt I'll be peachy keen and ready to hop into a car and go play with children. I'll probably want to sleep for 48 hours straight. In which case, I'd miss the whole trip I paid for. Not only would I be going on the trip most likely ill, but I'd be ignoring my own psychological well-being. Honestly, this is what I've learned from these terrible few weeks: I have to allow myself to breathe. I have to allow myself to be happy. I can't lock myself in my room studying. I have to allow myself to want things and to get the things that I want. Sometimes, it's necessary to be selfish.
So starting tomorrow I'm going to allow myself to enjoy life. I kept bawling my eyes out over the fact that I wasn't living, that I was simply existing, instead of going out and embracing this beautiful town that I live in! Tomorrow I'm going to go on a run after which I will treat myself to reading and Starbucks. Then I'll get back to studying. Once I've relaxed a little, I'll allow myself to study - outside! I'll sit in this magnificent weather and study. Maybe I'll even work on my short story because I know I'll be feeling inspired. I think I'll break out my watercolors and paint or maybe get the balls to visit Jack at work because who knows? There are so many things I can do, there are so many possibilities! I can do it all. I'm going to have a fantastic day. I'm glowing as I write this.

And then during spring break, I am going to allow myself to relax. But not only that... I am going to allow myself to do all the things I've been wanting to do. Like go on hikes with Jack or tan on Farrand or finally read a book from my growing list. I'm going to let myself breathe. And I'm going to be happy.
I am happy.

And if it wasn't for Jack supporting me through everything, I don't know where I'd be. So here's a picture of us lovebirds last weekend. I actually have a handful more that I'll show y'all in a later blogpost.

I actually think it's my favorite picture of us so far, but Jackalope already beat me and made it his profile picture!

And please! Please! Comment on this blogpost! Tell me what makes you happy! What do you do when your down? How to you manage to stay positive when things around you seem to be terrible. I've had so many page visits and readers lately and I want to get to know each and every one of you. And if your sad, tell me, let me help you. I know from experience that you can always find something to be thankful for or generally happy about. There is always a silver lining. Life is worth living. This world is absolutely fantastic. Always. You are not a slug, rather, you are emerging into the most beautiful of butterflies.

xoxo, foxy