Self-care wouldn’t be so important to me if I hadn’t been brought to my knees before I found it. What began as a way to survive—to climb out of pain and exhaustion—eventually became a deep remembering of how to tend to myself with love and care. That love and care eventually became Florra, a space rooted in everything I had to relearn about nurturing myself.
As someone deeply attuned to others’ emotions, pouring myself into other people’s healing was all I knew. I thought it was noble—maybe even helpful. What I didn’t realize was that many of the places I poured into couldn’t hold me in return. I kept giving, unaware that I was slowly emptying out, with no one pouring back in. And the thing is—I wasn’t truly helping. I was enabling—pouring into wounds that weren’t mine to fix, while slowly unraveling myself in the process.
My self-care journey has been so much deeper than candles and baths. It’s been a deep inner rewiring—from prioritizing everyone else’s needs to learning how to offer myself the same care, presence, and softness I so freely gave others.
I used to think I didn’t need much—that I was low-maintenance. But neglecting my own needs for too long led to a quiet unraveling—physically, emotionally, and spiritually. The truth is, no one is truly low-maintenance. We all have needs—real, human needs—that no one else can be responsible for but us.
It’s easy to recognize our survival needs—the air we breathe, the food we eat, the shelter that keeps us safe. It’s also easy to know that fresh foods and clean air help us thrive. But what’s harder to see are the quieter needs: moments of rest and solitude, a tidy and beautiful space that calms the mind, great music, and a lovely scent. These subtle, often overlooked essentials nourish our whole being. They may feel less urgent than survival needs, but they are no less vital.
I opened Florra because I know my story is not unique. It’s quite common—especially for women—to find themselves in places where their needs are overshadowed by the demands of life: challenging jobs, draining relationships, and the constant pressure to prove our worth by giving, doing, fixing, and healing.
Florra’s message is simple but powerful: self-abandonment is not love. True love begins with self-care—the highest gift we can offer ourselves and the world.
So on this International Self-Care Day, I invite you to pause and truly reflect: How are you caring for yourself? Where might you be quietly abandoning your needs? Are there places where you’re pouring your energy but feeling drained instead of nourished?
Let’s take this day to explore what self-care really means to each of us—not just in a surface way, but in the deepest, most honest sense.
And above all, treat yourself kindly today—you are so worth it.
A Love Letter on International Self-Care Day
Featured articles
I’ve always felt like a modern woman with an ancient soul. My life feels like a paradox. Busy days on...
Your perfume is more than a beautiful scent. It is an expression of who you are: your mood, personality, emotions,...
As a child, I used to pick rose petals from the garden with my sisters. We would gather them into...