Hello,
I am Gabriella.
Welcome.
I'm grateful you are here.
This is the next talk in a series of talks on relationships and love.
Today we explore a tender and powerful idea that the love we seek from the world is often the love we're still learning to give ourselves.
Most of us have been taught quietly,
Subtly or very directly to reject parts of who we are.
Certain emotions,
Certain needs,
Certain memories,
Even certain ways we express or protect ourselves.
And over time,
These unwelcome parts retreat into the shadows,
Waiting for us to finally turn toward them with compassion.
So take a breath and allow yourself to arrive with me.
Now imagine for a moment every part of you,
The confident parts,
The tired parts,
The fearful parts,
The hopeful parts,
Are all sitting in a circle around you.
Each one carrying a piece of your story.
Each one wanting to be seen.
Self-love is not about erasing or improving these pieces.
It's a slow,
Kind reunion.
And remembering that you are already whole even if you feel scattered.
And that your wholeness doesn't come from perfection.
It comes from belonging to yourself.
You might ask,
What does it mean to belong to myself?
It means speaking to yourself the way you would speak to someone you love.
It means offering tenderness to the parts that are hurting instead of pushing them away.
It means allowing your needs to matter without guilt or apology.
It means letting your inner world be a place of safety,
Not judgment.
Take another breath.
And consider this gentle question.
What part of me has been waiting for my love?
Maybe it's a younger version of you who still feels afraid.
Maybe it's the part that tries so hard to be strong.
Or the part that feels unworthy unless it's achieving.
Or the part that's been holding grief alone.
Wholeness begins when you turn towards that part,
Not with fixing,
Not with pressure,
But with presence.
You might simply whisper internally,
I see you.
You belong.
You don't have to earn my love.
Feel how those words land.
Feel how your body responds.
Feel how something softens,
Even slightly,
When you offer yourself what you've longed to receive.
The truth is,
When you become the love you seek,
You don't stop needing others.
You just stop abandoning yourself.
Your relationships deepen because they grow from fullness,
Not emptiness,
Not grasping.
Your boundaries become clearer because they rise from worthiness,
Not from fear.
Your heart becomes more open because it is rooted in safety,
Not in longing.
Take one more deep breath.
Let it be gentle.
Let it be true.
As you move through your day,
Carry this with you.
Self-love is not a destination.
It is a daily practice of returning to yourself.
Returning to your breath.
Returning to your heart.
Returning to the quiet knowing that you are already whole,
And that you are worthy of your own tenderness.
Thank you for being here,
And for choosing yourself in this moment.
May you walk with more softness,
More acceptance,
And more belonging,
One breath at a time.
