After the Rain: Gentle Reminders for Healing, Courage, and Self-Love

by Alexandra Elle

How do you want to change? Think about things in your life that need to shift and require your full attention to do so. Make a list in your journal of the changes you’d like to make as you continue to evolve into your best self.

Explore your first memory of loving yourself or struggling with how to. Who taught you what you know? What do you need to learn or unlearn? Unfold the layers of your story and find the root of your self-love process.

Somebody, anybody, see me, love me, please. There was no such thing as feeling complete and enough. My need for validation was rooted in my belief that I was born a broken girl. I didn’t know how to fix myself or find magic in the mess I was making, and I believed that in order to become whole, I needed someone else to put my pieces together.

I didn’t think I needed someone else to fix me. I was told from the time I was a child that the only way I could be happy was by working hard and respecting myself.

didn’t feel worthy of love because, deep down, loving my entire self felt like a task I couldn’t quite complete.

And it felt okay, because I had started the process of falling madly and deeply in love with myself, a practice that took a lot of time and energy.

To lean into it, even without having the emotional support that I desired. I learned to support myself in the ways I thought others should.

Being alone in the water was guiding me to dive deeper into my ability to show up fully for myself without the need to be carried by the love of someone else.

As I did that, I wrote daily love notes to myself and poems to my

was insistent on manifesting my love into existence, not just through ...

Reflect on what the hurt in your life taught you about resilience. Consider how you can take your healing process one step at a time.

Who are you today and what gives you a sense of belonging?

Love. I’ve felt like I belonged at all the places I’ve spent a lot of time because of love. I try to only put love into the world.