We are all addressed with one word, love.

Who we love, what we love, and why we love. Love is without a doubt the most unexplainable feeling we can feel. We crave love in every form. Whether it's the love we feel when biting into a favorite candy bar, to the overwhelming feeling of listening to our favorite songs. Love is a feeling we can never get enough of. If you’ve found the love of your life, or you've been single for what seems like an eternity, there is one type of love we can never acquire enough of; and that is self-love.

Self-love, in my opinion, is the most important love there is. It's the love we feel for ourselves. The single most important lesson I have ever learned is to let go of the person I always thought I was supposed to be and to be who I really am. I started my journey to self-love by realizing at a certain point I was not happy. I wasn't necessarily unhappy, but I knew there was more to life that I was missing out on. This meant I had to change my way of life to discover the life I wanted; to discover the real me.

I began by becoming self-aware. I took my headphones out of my ears and I started to listen to the music that was always all around me. Before, walking to class consisted of some serious jams by James Vincent McMorrow. Now, I can’t help but listen to every single sound I hear. The way tires sound gliding across the pavement. I stopped looking down while I walked and started seeing the beauty in things I unknowingly used to pass by.

I never knew how beautiful trees looked with their branches stretched towards the sky. I found myself indulging in all forms of art, poetry, and music. I started finding myself in places I never knew I was lost in. Who knew you could find yourself in a melody or on a canvas. I had no idea at the time, but I was falling in love. I am falling in love with myself and my discoveries, by falling in love with the things around me. I was, and always will be on the journey to self-love.

For everyone reading this, I want you to discover your own version of self-love. Start by accepting who you are, and most importantly who you are not. Keep in mind that self-love isn't something that will hit you one day like a brick out of the sky. Self-love is a lifelong journey. Another lesson I have learned is how much more important it is to love yourself, rather than being loved by everyone.

Love yourself first, and I promise you, more love will follow. I remember watching an old man playing the guitar outside the city of Chicago. At that moment it was just him and his guitar. He wasn't watching the people around him. He looked down at his guitar as he played and it was as if the music around him was swallowing him up whole. I could feel the love he had for the music spilling out of his hands. He wasn't playing because he wants people to love him, he was playing because he loves to.