Hi everyone,

My name is Jess. I'm 24, and will be at the 1-year-mark of my transition on March 15! 🎉

Everything has gotten better for me since I started my transition, including mental health, physical healthiness, friendships - you name it! Honestly, it's really not surprising that being authentic to myself and others is the best medicine for me.

Like many of us, I imagine, I've always struggled with loving myself (or even just liking myself!) and that's something that I'm still having a hard time with. My best friend constantly tells me that it hurts him to see me be so hard on myself, but I just don't know how to go about genuinely accepting who I am as I am, and dropping the old hatred and self-loathing I've carried for myself for so many years. No matter how much positive physical change I've seen, nor the people I come out to, I feel like I'm missing a critical step to becoming whole in my own eyes, you know?

So, the point of this post: how have you been able to transition toward self-love in your life, and what tips or guidance could you share? Please feel free to talk about specifics as well as general stories or broad ideas!

TL;DR: Please share ways/tips/advice you've used to genuinely move towards self-love.

Thank you in advance - y'all are the best ♥️

Kindly, Jess ✨