Love Thyself: Vanity or Virtue

February often inspires those of us at SOPHIA to wax philosophical about that awesome (or awful) experience of "Love". Love is often viewed as something that exists outside of us, a resource that comes to us from others or as something we provide to those we love. We also have a culture, and considerable marketing budgets, reinforcing this view of love. Which isn't to say it's wrong, but we have to ask, is that the complete picture? Are we skipping a fundamental step in our journey to find, appreciate, and understand love?

Join us Februrary 21st at 3pm, where we dive into a surprisingly old question and a few answers to: what does it mean to “love yourself” and is that virtue… or just vanity with better marketing?

We’ll examine self-love less like a slogan and more like a practice of how we relate to our own consciousness when we fail, compare, spiral, self-sabotage, or try to improve. We’ll bounce between a few guideposts like Aristotle and the Stoics (being “of one mind” with yourself), Rousseau (the difference between self-preservation and status-hungry comparison), and a couple modern voices like Kristin Neff and Alain de Botton (self-compassion, the “lovable idiot,” and the myth of inner perfection).

We’ll circle questions like:

• What is the “self” we’re supposed to love?
• Can you practice healthy self-care without sliding into comparison and performance?
• Does self-compassion make us lazy… or brave?
• What would it look like to be “friends with yourself” in a non-cringey, practical way?

Expect the usual: thoughtful conversation, a few funny/grim truths, and zero pressure to reach a tidy conclusion. We'd love to see you there.