10 Strange Habits That Make You Love Yourself a Little More Each Day

Love yourself – it is not a grand epiphany. It’s a soft unfolding. A series of quiet choices made in the privacy of your everyday. It’s the way you talk to yourself while brushing your teeth. The scent you choose for your room. The way your hands wrap around a warm mug. It’s not loud, and it rarely makes it to Instagram. But oh, how it transforms you.

Here are ten habits—tender, strange, and maybe even a little whimsical—that can bring you closer to yourself, not in theory, but in the fabric of ordinary life.

1. Write Letters to Your Past and Future Selves

There’s something quietly magical about writing to the version of you that once was—or the one who hasn’t arrived yet. These letters aren’t for reading later. They’re for the act of writing now. Pour your heart out to your thirteen-year-old self who felt invisible. Or whisper your hopes to the 60-year-old you who might be sitting by a window with silvering hair and slower mornings.

You might discover that the most healing conversations aren’t the ones you have with others, but the ones you have with yourself, across time.

2. Keep a “Strange Joy” Journal

Forget the five-year planner or the gratitude list everyone talks about. Start a notebook—call it whatever you want—where you only write down the odd, unlikely things that made your soul grin.

A pigeon with swagger. A sunbeam on your laundry. A piece of lint that looked like a jellyfish. A perfectly timed sigh.

By noticing the peculiar joys that are too small for words yet too delightful to forget, you’re affirming that your world is worthy of being noticed. That you are worthy of being delighted.

3. Make a Ritual Out of One Mundane Task

Pick one daily task you normally rush through and turn it into a little ceremony. Maybe it’s your evening face wash. Or slicing fruit in the afternoon.

Dim the lights. Play music. Move slower. Say a few kind words aloud—”This is my care.” Let the task feel sacred, not because it is important, but because you are.

When you bring intentionality into the ordinary, you remind yourself that you’re not just surviving. You’re curating your life.

4. Always Wear Cozy, Aesthetic Homewear You Love

You don’t need a special occasion to look like someone who cares about how she feels in her skin. The way you dress when no one’s watching is often the most honest love letter to yourself.

Invest in an aesthetic embroidered T-shirt—perhaps one with a design that speaks to your inner world, whether it’s a whimsical fox, a favorite quote, or a flower that reminds you of home. Or slip into pajamas that feel like clouds, printed with tiny peaches or sleepy moons. These are not just clothes—they are personalized comfort wear, a gentle kind of armor for your quiet hours.

If you’re ever wondering what to gift a friend who’s been pouring herself into the world, consider something similar—cozy gifts for her that say, “You deserve softness. You deserve warmth.”

Comfort doesn’t mean careless. Beauty doesn’t mean uncomfortable. Find the clothing that wraps around you like a secret hug and says: You matter, even here, even now.

5. Talk to Your Reflection, Out Loud, Like a Dear Friend

It may feel silly at first. But standing in front of the mirror and saying, “You’re doing okay, even when it feels like you’re not,” can shift something inside you.

Don’t aim for affirmation clichés. Be specific. “You handled that conversation today with so much grace,” or “I know you’re tired, and I’m proud of you for showing up.”

The mirror doesn’t need to reflect perfection. Just presence.

6. Curate a “Personal Folklore” Playlist

Create a playlist that doesn’t just sound good—it tells the story of your internal world. Songs that feel like the person you are when no one is around. Or the person you long to become. Let it be a soundtrack for the chapters you’re writing in real time.

Play it when you’re washing dishes. Walking. Crying. Dancing alone in your kitchen.

You’re not just collecting songs. You’re building myth. And you are the main character.

7. Make Tiny Shrines Around Your Home

You don’t need to be religious to make a sacred space. It could be a little dish of sea glass on your windowsill. A photo of your grandmother next to a dried flower. A tiny figurine on your bookshelf next to a love letter you never sent.

These little altars remind you that your life is layered. That you carry stories and symbols and memories that deserve to be seen.

It’s a quiet way of saying: This is who I am. This is what I cherish. And it matters.

8. Learn the Art of Noticing Transitions

Pay attention to the in-between moments. The shift from day to night. The pause before you answer a text. The space between inhaling and exhaling.

There’s an entire universe that lives in these micro-moments. The more you train your attention to dwell there, the more you soften. You become someone who doesn’t just live through time—but within it.

That presence, that noticing—it’s one of the highest forms of self-respect.

9. Give Names to Your Feelings (Even the Ugly Ones)

Instead of saying “I’m anxious,” try “There’s a small gray fox pacing around in my chest.” Or instead of “I’m sad,” say “It feels like it’s raining inside my ribcage.”

By naming your feelings with metaphor or imagery, you soften their grip. You make space to be curious, instead of critical. And in doing so, you become a compassionate translator of your own emotional language.

It’s one of the kindest things you can do for yourself: let your feelings be complex, but not monstrous.

10. Create a Weekly “Self-Date” with a Twist

Yes, we’ve all heard of taking yourself out on a date. But here’s the twist: choose a theme for each week.

One week, it’s “Curiosity.” So you go to a museum and ask questions about things you don’t understand. Another week, it’s “Rest,” and you build a pillow fort and watch your childhood favorite movie. Next, “Sensory Delight,” and you try a new tea while listening to jazz with your phone on airplane mode.

When you treat yourself as someone fascinating, someone worth wooing, your inner landscape begins to bloom. You’re not just being alone. You’re being with someone worthy of wonder.

Final Thoughts: Loving Yourself Is an Art of Small Things

These self love habits aren’t shiny enough to trend. They won’t earn you applause or applause-shaped hearts on your posts. But they have a different kind of power.

They return you to yourself. Every single day.

And slowly, without realizing it, you begin to carry yourself differently. Softer. Truer. You begin to trust your own company, to recognize your own rhythms. You catch yourself smiling in the mirror—not because you look perfect, but because you see someone becoming whole.

In a world that’s always asking for more, self-love whispers: This is enough. You are enough. Right here. Right now.

So go ahead. Wrap yourself in your softest shirt. Dance in your kitchen. Talk to your reflection. Light a candle for no reason. Start noticing the way sunlight lands on your floorboards at 4:17 p.m.

You’re not just loving yourself.

You’re remembering how.