Welcome to the Summer of Self-Love!

If you’ve ever hated your body, you’ll know what it’s like to anticipate summer with a mix of excitement and dread. The promise of sun and heat is delicious, and in lots of ways the living is easier. But summer also brings increased scrutiny of our bodies and social lives, adding extra pressure to look amazing, have the most fun, and be carefree and breezy all the time.

There are so many beautiful things about humans that are shamed by our culture: cellulite, round bellies, scars, gender queerness, dark skin, weak arms, messy houses, awkward moments, trying too hard, wanting too much, needing each other… the list could go on forever. We could probably all make our own lists of the specific things we’ve been taught to hate about ourselves, and the longer we live, the more we’re told to change.

In the summer, the expectation that you should change yourself can be even more intense. This is, after all, the season of boot camps, beach diets, and a million articles about finding the most flattering bathing suit for your shape. It’s also a time when we imagine that people will be happier, so it can be even lonelier to be struggling in what “should” be the easiest season.

A lot of industries capitalize on the fear that we’re somehow failing at summer. To push back against this idea, we’re making this the Summer of Self-Love at Venus Envy. Because we don’t think that shaming or hating yourself will make you a better person, and we don’t think you need to change one thing about yourself to be worthy of (self-)love.

Our hope for the Summer of Self-Love is to offer some inspiration for loving yourself in a culture that profits from self-hate. Every week for the next 12 weeks, we’ll have a blog post on a different self-love theme, with topics ranging from boundaries to pleasure to music. We’ll also include some questions, activities or ideas that we hope will help you fall more in love with yourself this summer.

Throughout the summer, we’ll also share some extra self-love offerings, so stay tuned for events, playlists, collaborations and other surprises.

To stay up to date on everything that’s happening, you can sign up for our Summer of Self-Love newsletter here, where you’ll receive some self-love inspiration in your inbox every week for the next 12 weeks.

For Week 1 of the Summer of Self-Love, we’ll leave you with these questions to think about:

• What does self-love mean to you?
• What would change if you loved yourself more often?
• What’s one thing you can do this week to show yourself some love?

We’re looking forward to a self-love-filled summer!
xo VE

P.S. We’d love to hear about your self-loving summer! Let us know what you’re thinking in the comments, or share with us on Instagram.