One Is The Loveliest Number
- By Catherine Blom-Smith
- •
- 05 Feb, 2018
- •
Our batteries-not-necessary guide to loving yourself in February
Just when the gloom and grey skies of January feel like they’re behind us, and the first daffodils and snowdrops appear, another shadow looms large over February – themed cards appear in the shops, every restaurant has couples fighting for a table, and lifestyle articles pop up listing ‘How Not to Screw Up That Yearly Breakfast In Bed’. Yes, I’m talking about Valentine’s Day. This tradition emphasises the importance of relationships, but it’s time to move on from outdated idea that you need a partner to be fulfilled and happy. So this month, here’s our guide to loving yourself in February (applicable throughout the year!)
1) Celebrate Galentine’s Day. Galentine’s Day, celebrated traditionally (oh all right, since 2010) on the 13th of February, is a day, to quote the great Leslie Knope, for ‘ladies celebrating ladies’. This is basically about loving and appreciating the women in your life and is an optimistic celebration of friendship. Boost your self-esteem and theirs by letting the women in your life know you love them. Go out together for a meal or a spa day or anything that lets you bond with your nearest and dearest. N.b.: this is open to anyone to celebrate, not just those who identify as gals.
2) Exercise self-care. Self-care takes the form of small acts or behaviours which reaffirm your identity and give you a little treat. For instance, things like getting a new haircut, or a pair of kick-ass shoes, that give you a little psychological lift. Instead of splashing your hard-earned on overpriced roses come the 14th, go to the cinema on your own, or bake a cake - whatever you enjoy doing solo. It’s sometimes hard to put into practise but being able to say no to things you’re not keen on gives you precious time to yourself.
3) Save your time, money and the planet by investing in reusable sanitary products. Having crunched my own personal numbers, I’ve worked out that I spend on average £44.40 per year on disposable sanitary products, while my new Mooncup waits patiently for me to master its mysterious ways. Investing in a menstrual cup or washable pads is cheaper in the long run and saves you that late-night dash to the corner shop for emergency supplies. And it’s better for the planet! Disposable sanitary products have a huge effect on the environment – see last month’s blog by Catriona for more, and shop for yours here.
4) Eat well and thoughtfully. Research shows you get more nourishment from food that you enjoy! This is especially important if you’re not feeling your best anyway around your period. Although it’s still vital to get those key nutrients to keep you healthy, a little bit of what you fancy really does do you good. I get super hungry for one day a month where I inhale any food in the house and then stare balefully at my housemates’ dinners like a fat Labrador. Take the time to inhale the fragrant aroma wafting from a curry, that first crunch of a crisp apple, the ooze of a cheesy burger, or the crack and pop of the lid of an ice cream tub.
5) Finally, celebrate and reward yourself! It’s easy to be very self-critical, especially in our ever more perfectionist society. Recognise when you’ve achieved something or done something that scares you. Make sure to keep an eye on your coping mechanisms and support network, be that friends, family, or anyone else.
May February be your month of self-knowledge, appreciation, and mutual love. Failing that, there’s always the reduced-price Valentine’s chocolate on the 15th – self-development never tasted so good.
WOW Women of the World festivals have been popping up across the world, if you get the chance to go along to one we would strongly recommend it.
WOW – Women of the World festival celebrates women and girls, and looks at the obstacles that stop them from achieving their potential.
Around the world, individuals and communities are insisting on the simple proposition that women and girls must have equal rights and asking the question: why is gender equality taking so long?
Southbank Centre's WOW – Women of the World festival is a global network of festivals which provides a platform for celebrating what has been achieved, and exploring all the ways we can change the world for the better.
What’s not to love?
Our Founder, Chloe, and her Mum Angela went along to represent No More Taboo with a stall across the two days. Here’s her highlights:
“Although we didn’t get much time to take in all the discussions as we were kept busy wo-manning the stall (thanks Mum for helping out)! We had some great discussions around gender, equality, inclusivity and of course periods with new customers, supporters, other panellists and some old friends who came to see us.
In fact, we were really pleased to catch up with Plan International UK who were opening the festival with a discussion about Period Activism exactly one year on since the launch of our #BreaktheBarriers research and Period Poverty Conference that we ran in collaboration with Plan.
On the first weekend of September, No More Taboo set up shop at Lush Cribbs Causeway for their Charity Pot weekend.
The Lush Charity Pot is a wonderfully creamy shea-butter hand lotion where all the sales money (excluding VAT) goes towards a chosen charity or non-for-profit. This scheme is designed to help boost grass-roots, small and local organisations, like ourselves, financially so that we can continue to do the work we do such as our Tackling Period Poverty programme.
As we were Lush’s chosen organisation for the weekend of the 1-2 September, one of our volunteers, Iloni, and one of our advisors, Carolyn, went along to wo-man the (suitably Lush-styled aesthetic) stall that Lush had kindly provided for us. We took along a range of our products, stacks of leaflets and information as well as our enthusiasm for talking about all things to do with periods.
Over the weekend, we sold over £200’s worth of stock with Ruby Cups and Honour Your Flow re-usable pads proving most popular with Lush customers. On top of this, Lush sold so many of their Charity Pots that £340.60 was raised for No More Taboo – which was amazing!
However exciting the money side of things were with this event, what I personally took away as being the real highlight of the weekend was the number and nature of conversations we shared with customers.
Mothers and daughters came and chatted to us about how they agreed it was so important to use re-usable products for personal and financial reasons as well as for the planet’s sake. Boyfriends accompanied their other halves as they prodded and probed the range of menstrual cups on display. Older women commented on how it’s such a relief to be able to talk about menstruation in public and with people you’ve only just met. They regaled of a time when periods were even more hush-hush and celebrated with us out mission of there being No More Taboo.
We would like to thank Lush Cribbs Causeway for being such wonderful hosts, encouraging every customer that came through their doors to consider buying the Charity Pot or simply to chat with us. Each member of their staff team was incredibly warm and so keen to find out more about what we do. On behalf of all of us at No More Taboo, thank you.
For more information, take a look at their website: https://www1.uwe.ac.uk/whatson/biggreenweek.aspx
Read more here: https://www.wen.org.uk/environmenstrual-week-of-action/
