Traditionally, Valentine’s Day has been a celebration of love between couples and loved ones. The 14th of February is filled with gift giving and the expression of love for others. However, in a world filled with chaos and confusion, many people have forgotten how to love themselves.
Life comes at us fast and very often the hustle of the day becomes a distraction. It is a way for us to avoid facing ourselves and truly learning who we are and where we are at mentally, physically, and spiritually. Many of us try to run from our past trauma and do not take the time to understand or comprehend our feelings and emotions. When you do this, you prevent yourself from loving yourself. Life is about accepting who you are. We are all journeying on a path that is not always straight and easy. There are many winding roads and obstacles that we must face. There are times where we will disappoint ourselves and others but we cannot allow that to define who we are. Our failures are just steppingstones to improvement. True love of self comes from accepting our flaws and short-comings and actively working to improve them. It comes from rising when you fall and accepting the things about yourself that you cannot change. True love of self is when you take some time in your day to treat yourself, pray, meditate, exercise or engage in any other activity that helps you to relax, focus and face the challenges that are before you.
This Valentine’s Day I encourage you to show the world of love to others but I also encourage you to show some love to yourself. You are meant to be loved and appreciated and that begins with you spending sometime in selfcare. You cannot love another whole heartedly, unless you have learnt to love yourself. This does not mean that you should engage in self destructive behaviours without any concern for the consequences but rather it means spending some time trying to understand why you engage in dangerous or toxic behaviours and looking at the ways in which you can improve. The journey of self-love is not a selfish one but rather one in which you improve so that you can be a better friend, lover and member of your community. Your ultimate goal is to become the best version of yourself so that you can contribute to the creation of the best version of society. So, love yourself today and every day.
Darrion M. Narine was born in Trinidad and Tobago but considers himself to be a global citizen. He is a social development specialist and a performing artiste. He is currently the programme manager of the Archdiocese’s Ministry for Migrants, working alongside UN agencies and grassroots organizations in Trinidad and Tobago to cater towards the educational, psychosocial, health and physiological needs of over 30,000 migrants and refugees.
Darrion was also the chair of the CHOGM CYF taskforce responsible for executing the Commonwealth Youth Forum in Kigali, Rwanda in June 2022. He managed a 21-member taskforce made up of people from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and the Pacific. The taskforce was responsible for the planning, programme development and execution of the CHOGM CYF 2022 which hosted over 500 delegate from across the globe. His work in these fields have allowed him to develop his resource mobilization skills since he has been able to raise additional money for the support of several projects. which he manages.
Additionally, Darrion was the former Vice Chairperson for Inclusion and Engagement on the Commonwealth Youth Council, which serves 1.2 billion youth across the globe. His work focused on youth development, global socio-economic development and global social policy development. During his tenure he was able to launch and co-partner on several programmes. He co-founded the RACE campaign which allowed for healthy conversations around race and race relations. He was also a key founding director of the Youth Voice Matters campaign which promoted the increase in youth political participation. He holds a BSc in Psychology (Special) with a minor in Theatre Arts and a MA in Cultural Studies from the University of the West Indies (U.W.I). He is the former President of the U.W.I Guild of Students 2018/19, where he represented the students at all major university meetings and external advocacy movements and is a National Youth Award recipient for Leadership from the Government of Trinidad and Tobago. In addition to this, he was a board member on the Global Coalition for Youth Employment (under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and National Service) and has served as a board member on the Chancellor’s Commission on Governance for the University of the West Indies reviewing the University’s governance structures and making recommendations for overall improvement of its systems and operations.
Darrion is also a cultural advocate, poet , writer and performer. He has taught techniques in performance, public speaking drama and networking to hundreds of young people across Trinidad and Tobago. He has also done skills development training at various schools across the country and region. Furthermore, he is an actor with DCShell Theatre, a singer, a poet and a writer. He has a collection of music and poetry and has performed across the globe. He believes strongly that education is liberation, and the key to a progressive population.
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