01/05/2026
A Shelter Within
Why not dedicate the new year to simply loving yourself more?
Loving yourself is often about learning to show up for yourself
the way you would for someone you cherish.
It’s noticing your needs
before exhaustion does,
listening to your own voice
amidst the noise,
and giving yourself permission
to take up space in your own life.
It means forgiving the versions of you
that didn’t know better,
and resisting the urge to punish yourself
for surviving the only way you could at the time.
Sometimes loving yourself looks like courage;
other times it looks like rest.
Often it looks like boundaries
that feel lonely at first,
because you are choosing your well-being over approval.
Loving yourself is not about believing you are perfect.
It’s about believing you are allowed to be imperfect
and still deserving of gentleness.
It’s the slow trust
that you can be honest with yourself
and still remain whole
Over time, that trust becomes
a shelter you carry within,
a space where you can safely grow,
release what no longer serves you,
and begin again,
without ever abandoning who you truly are.
~ 'A Shelter Within' by Spirit of a Hippie
✍️ Mary Anne Byrne
~ Art by CallyJohnson-Isaacs Cally Johnson-Isaacs Illustration
