So what is your one singular act of daily indulgence?
Well mine is THE SHOWER!
I absolutely looove the shower. This is my one non negotiable act of selfie love. In fact, my love affair with the shower began many years ago as a young child growing up in West Africa.
Your typical tropical day in the southern part of Nigeria was blessed with the hot sun greeting your face early in the African morning skies . Ofcourse with this glorious morning sun also came the African heat that throughout the day easily left beads of sweat hanging onto the foreheads of children at play. Although as you get older, these sweat beads were no longer welcomed as they threatened to melt away your carefully applied face makeup aka pancake as the locals called it.
In addition to the heat of the tropical weather , the roads in the villages were mostly un tarred which allowed the dust from the earth to assault our clothing and bodies as it pleases. So by the end of the day, the shower offered a most attractive invitation to reclaim oneself.
Perhaps that was when I began to fall in love with the shower. I have even written about my search for the perfect shower after hiking Kilimanjaro with my family in an earlier blog called “ Home sweet Home”.
Anyways, back at home in Africa , I mostly took those lukewarm showers and at times begrudgingly had to take cold showers when there was no electricity to heat the water. I didn’t care for this type as much especially during the cold dusty harmattan ( aka West African winter months). Albeit , scientist have been discovering the many emotional benefits of taking cold showers but that is a story for another day.
My favorite things about showers begins with walking into the majestic presence of an aesthetically pleasing shower ambiance with a well adjusted water pressure. You hear the inviting sound of the excellent water pressure even before you feel it on your face and body….aaahhh .Glorious!
It’s your choice to keep your eyes open or closed as the perfectly temperature water pellets your body in a warm welcome . Now at times, the heat of the water maybe too much for your eyes that it reflexively squints in its presence. A wonderful time to allow your soapy loofah to explore your body while making foamy suds multiply, only to be rinsed away again by that warm refreshing liquid. Assuming you are NOT in a hurry (or worse still have someone else waiting on you to use the shower), then you can take YOUR time . So you better ENJOY it .
I like to pretend that nothing else is more necessary in the moment than being right here, present in this flow of hydrogen and oxygen as they awaken all my senses. I feel more and more alive with each stream of water hitting my face and hair. I mostly stand in the shower but have also enjoyed other alternative positions. In our home, I have shared playful showers or had my shower interrupted by the cry of a waking baby. Nonetheless, my love for this rectangular oasis keeps growing .
Perhaps this is because in the shower, my senses appear to have the best balance of calmness and vitality. Even the soaps smell more heavenly and the loofah definitely gets the itch right during a deliberate shower time .
My Brain appears more open to exploring thoughts, my heart more open to prayer and meditation, my daydream appears more productive , thinking of more meaningful ideas of expression, charity and love. My loved ones including my ancestors typically cross my mind during this state of contentment and I offer up prayers as they come to my mind.
Truly, there is a longing to remain right here in this wet moment , for longer than necessary, just because it feels so wonderful.
Then reality started to creep in or I hear one of my kids call out my name loudly across the house…. The sound of their voice jolt me out of my daydream or prayer and back to the reality of a Monday morning . I better get going to start making lunches for my 4 Littles.
Well , my dear shower , I suppose I shall leave your warm embrace for now until I return to you again at the end of the day.
Thank you for giving me a chance to love and be present with myself…. Thank you for my one singular non negotiable act of daily self love ❤️
I am curious what others ‘ singular acts of daily self love is? Share in the comments if you are brave enough, and if you don’t have one , then it may be time to acquire one . Whatever you choose , I hope you enjoy your acts of daily self love and that it helps you be a stronger, better version of yourself for others.
Follow my blog so you don’t miss a blog post.. whenever the writing spirit urges yours truly ❤️
MindMuse 
The kitchen have always been a place of solace for me and cooking is one singular act that i must indulge in everyday to have a sence of fulfilment even though i may not eat what i cooked but watching others enjoy my kitchen product is my joy. It started since my teenage days, though these days with new baby and 3 other kids and work it can be a task but still very refreshing that i must prepare at least 1 meal every day.
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Thank you for reading Chymma. I love that your act of self love gets to also benefit your family! Win/Win❤️
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Mine is the early morning solitude I gift myself. They are very few and in between but when they are allowed, they feel like your shower experience. Priceless.
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Aahhh solitude in a noisy world sounds lovely . I am glad to hear that is your early morning gift to yourself.
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For me, it is intentional practice of “Mindfulness,” daily. I connect with myself and reflect on ways I have been compassionate to myself, and then to others. I surround myself with positive thoughts and people and let go of negative people and energy. Because I seek for real happiness, I remind myself not to feed self with negative energy and to always show myself the same kindness and compassion I show others. I reflect on people in my life that eats and craves positivity, and tap strengths from them. This is why you and I are sisters/friends today!
Since publication of my book “Tested Faith,” I make daily conscious effort to walk my talk and count my blessings. At the end of the day, I often reflect back to see where I have succeeded and where I failed in positive energy. I try not to beat myself up on my shortcomings, but instead promise to do better. I have also learned to reattach from people/friends that no longer serve their purpose (spreaders of negative energy), without feeling bad about my decision. I do this anywhere, namely, shower, small room, during my 45 minutes’ drive to work, kneeling in prayer or just laying down.
It is self-awareness!
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Love this so much ! You are truly an intentional human being , the exact kid our world need right now..thank you for taking time to comment❤️
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Thank you so much for sharing this! Self love is soooo important and I love your writing. You are so talented.!
I listen to a short morning meditation as my daily self love act. It helps me a lot 🙏🏼
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Thank you for reading my blog and sharing your experience! I love that you have a daily meditation practice.. no wonder !🥰😇
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A cup of tea first thing in the quiet hours of the morning, and a glass of wine at night, ideally on my back patio relaxing in the night air. These are two of my favorite daily rituals, that I discovered in my mid twenties. Love hearing about yours, Kelechi, it is hard to beat a nice, warm shower!!
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Hmmmmm a cup of morning tea enjoyed in peace sounds lovely! Glad you get to gift this to yourself in the morning 💕
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A hot cup of tea is my favorite. It always makes me feel good to even think about having one.
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That does sound lovely too 🥰
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What a delightsome reading this piece made.
Never thought about it this way but my showering is very indulging…….especially with the aromas and Fragrances that accompany it.
In live in West Africa and I absolutely relate to the “” blissful, glorious ” sun matter.
I have a feeling from now on I will be spending longer time than necessary when I shower.
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Lol! Love hearing that and I wish you many lingering lovely showers in your future..cheers💕
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It’s the shower for me as well. I can’t wait to move to a place where ill have to choose my own bathroom. Especially in the cold weather, having hot water run through my body makes me pray and sometimes I wish I could speak in tongues to express the feeling it comes me in those times. It also makes me ponder on how blessed I am and pray for those who do not enjoy such privileges.
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It’s the shower for me as well. I can’t wait to move to a place where I’ll have to choose my own bathroom. Especially in the cold weather, having hot water run through my body makes me pray and sometimes I wish I could speak in tongues to express the feeling that comes to me in those moments. It also makes me ponder on how blessed I am and pray for those who do not enjoy such privileges. It’s definitely shower time for me. Another thing that comes close is when I get to sit on my bed and do absolutely nothing but think
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Love this so much! Like the champion Queen you are 🙌🏽
#SpeakInTongues😂😍
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I love my mini morning workouts. The house is quiet, so it is my time to work on myself and to reflect on the day ahead. I honestly had not thought of the time as an act of self love. Thanks so much for helping me to put it into perspective.
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That’s really lovely that you get your mini morning workouts time to yourself 💕.. thank you for reading and following the blog posts!
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Ever since I was young my self indulgence is to this day (Day dreaming or pretending, making up scenarios in my head) I was a blue eyed blonde haired American girl because being an Asian in a small country town was not common…..I was a stripper because after I watched “Laverne and Shirley” getting balloons popped on your body looked like fun (I didn’t know you had to be naked under the balloons)…..I was Sleeping Beauty because she got sleep all the time and was woken up by a handsome Prince, giving her a nice sweet kiss, not some crazy yelling for us to get up because they got up late…..I am a Movie or Rock Star, because they got a lot of stuff for free, I read up on what they get in their Swag Bags!!!……I was 007’s girlfriend, because he drove cool cars always protected the woman and always got the bad guy..….I’m the best Ninja Warrior and would sneak up and kick who’s ever ass I needed too and they would never know who it was. …Now I pretend I have magic like Samantha on “Bewitch” and try and wiggle my nose and my house will be clean as I want it without getting all rags and vacuums out!!!
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Haha I think of all your super egos, I would like to be Samantha right now to help me fold my heap of laundry 😂
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