Self love, narcissism, and compassion.

Francis Weller writes that there is no journey to contentment that does pass through the territory of self compassion. When I look at the world around me I can see a culture that reflects individualism. Doesn't the idea of self love just make you cringe? The feeling of being into oneself.. Isn’t this, narcissism? 

Well, experiencing love for your own existence is more complex than the ease of off the shelf commodifications and pop psychology products suggestively scream in between the lines. Self love is not something that can be taught like mathematics, or history. It is an experience. Maybe it feels like everyone else is on the guest list, in the VIP queue and you are outside in the rain. Why can’t I be more like them? 

This, my friends, may well be part of the process that is blocking us from feeling that we are enough, from getting in touch with our own sense of self love. This is where the fear of narcissism that ironically upholds destructive individualism is rooted. We live in a culture that disrupts our own ability to feel that we belong by focusing us on ourselves in a spiral of comparison and fear. 

Therapy can provide a way forward that can help you understand what may be blocking you from your own ability to feel that you are enough, you are worthy, and experience a sense of belonging in your own body. Human beings don’t need permission for this experience.