Get Cozy with Yourself
“Comfortable in my skin, Cozy with who I am,” Beyoncè, Cozy
With a quick Google search you can learn how to make your home cozy, prep for a cozy winter, or even purchase the most cozy pajamas…But can you be cozy with yourself?
NSFW Lyric Warning
Beyoncé says yes! Coinciding with the release of her 7th studio album Renaissance earlier this year, Beyoncé posted the following note on her website: “Creating this album allowed me a place to dream and to find escape during a scary time for the world. It allowed me to feel free and adventurous in a time when little else was moving. My intention was to create a safe place, a place without judgement. A place to be free of perfectionism and overthinking. A place to scream, release, feel freedom. It was a beautiful journey of exploration.”
This intention shines when I listen to the song Cozy. By definition, the word cozy means to feel “snugly warm and comfortable.” Beyoncé fleshes that out; to be cozy is to be comfortable with who she is, to love herself, and to recognize the value in her resilience (“…kiss my scars because I love what they made”). She remembers the challenges she overcame (“Been down, been up, been broke, broke down, bounced back”), recognizes her inherent worth, (“You're a god, you're a hero, you survived all you been through”), and uses affirmations to encourage both herself (“I love myself”) and the listener (“Unique - unique is what you are”).
How to do you get comfortable with who you are? Some ideas to practice acceptance of who you are include:
1.) Be mindful of what makes you unique: A beautiful thing about humanity is that we’re not all the same - What makes you, you? You need to know yourself in order to be comfortable with yourself.
2.) Recognize what’s important to you: What a values are important to you? What about people who are important to you in your life? What are your goals, dreams and aspirations?
3.) Identify your strengths and interests: What are you good at? What do you do well?
4.) Celebrate your accomplishments: It’s not an accident that Beyoncé does this multiple times throughout the song.
5.) Identify what you can control and what you cannot: and take responsibility for your choices.
6.) Cut down on social media time: The never-ending doom scroll of social media makes comparing yourself to others easy - cut down on the time you spend on your phone to focus on you.
7.) Be curious and non-judgmental about where the discomfort is coming from: Is it a voice of a parent that you hear criticizing you when you’re uncomfortable in your skin? Are you feeling stagnant or unfulfilled?
8.) Practice kindness toward yourself: It’s easy to personalize and apply harsh judgement - instead, be intentional with affirming yourself and be okay with doing your best.
Do you have any other strategies that help with practicing self acceptance? Let me know in the Comments below!
