Valentine's Day. A day that is all about love. At least for most people. Adam and Eve are considered the first human couple. Many contemporary interpretations see her as a strong, curious and responsible woman, not just a supporting role to Adam. She was a courageous seeker of truth. Today, we want to talk about self-love, and Eve is a symbol of self-love. In the biblical narrative, Eve is not simply "Adam's wife."She is the first person to think, feel, and decide for herself. We all know that it's often easy to say that one should love oneself. Self-love is a process and something we often have to learn first. Self-love does not mean that you find yourself great and irresistible around the clock. Self-love means rather that you accept yourself as you are. This does not mean that you are infallible and must not change. On the contrary, self-love also means recognizing your own mistakes, accepting them for the moment, and yet finding a way for yourself to develop further and become a better version of yourself. Of course, one should not fall into a self-optimization frenzy that ultimately does not make one happy. That has less to do with self-love. Rather, one should become aware of how one thinks and talks about oneself. Often, one is far too hard on oneself. Ages ago, I read a sentence that has stuck with me ever since: "You would never think or speak so badly about a friend as you do about yourself," and it's true. You would never choose the same words for someone you like as you use for yourself. Perhaps one should treat oneself more like a good friend. Of course, this does not make the problem disappear into thin air, but perhaps it brings one a step closer to self-love. - Nancy Schneider, eve in paradise