Self-love
One of the most beautiful things that I've ever read is this quote from Roy Bhaskar (From East to West Odyssey of a Soul, p. ix): "the most appropriate (correct, best possible) ethical and political stance is one of unconditional love for our essential selves, and that of each and every other being and the environment we inhabit." I use Bhaskar's philosophy a lot in my academic work. Usually I emphasise love (or gentleness) towards other beings and nature/the universe. I don't feel that I talk sufficiently about self-love in my works, including my autoethnography. Yet, self-love is such an important component of relating with the world differently. Both Bhaskar's philosophy and deep ecology (see various writings of Arne Næss) invite us to expand our narrow selves to the larger Self, i.e., embrace the universe. This invitation comes from the assumption (that I believe is true) that we are all one, everything is interconnected. When we realise this, we feel empathy towards others (humans and non-humans) and act upon it. We don't want to take more from the world than we need. We care about others as we care about ourselves. Apart from this all-encompassing love I'm also thinking about self-love towards our narrow selves, as unique and singular (though also connected) beings. Not egoism, ego-centrism, or selfishness. But self-compassion. Quality time with oneself. Seeing oneself as enough. Being passionate about one's career. By career I don't mean selling one's labour for ever increasing amount of money, but being the best human beings we can be. One's job can of course assist on this journey. Being passionate about one's growth. Curious about one's journey.
Perhaps it sounds very abstract, but genuine self-love (not indulgence, hedonism, selfishness) helps in everyday sustainability practice. When I prioritise my spiritual growth and have a sense of myself being enough, I feel more secure in the world, less attached, more joyful and ready to serve the world via whatever it is that I'm doing (e.g., my academic work, autoethnography, practising minimalism). I consume much less than what is the norm in our society. I do not think that I need to buy stuff to be fulfilled, joyful. I think that when we genuinely love ourselves, we begin to ignore advertising and even some ugly norms in our society such as competition and inauthentic networking. We want to empower others, cooperate.