No Rescuer Required

I know I put up a Valentine’s Day themed outfit post last week, but I really like what I wore on the day itself, so I thought I’d share it on the blog too! The t-shirt I wore is from TeePublic and features a Star Wars x Disney mashup by James Hance of Penny from The Rescuers as Princess Leia. He’s one of my favorite geek artists of all time and he just seems like a really swell guy. This judgement solely comes from following him on Twitter and Facebook. I urge you to check out his artwork! Not only does he do great geek mashups, but creates some mind blowing portraits of fictional faves; he recently did a beautiful portrait of Princess Leia with flowers that I’m in love with. The header on his website is “Relentlessly Cheerful Art,” and if his work doesn’t put a smile on your face, something is legit wrong with you!

Like I mentioned in my Valentine’s Day post, I didn’t have any plans. But throughout the day I felt pretty zen… and then super sick because all I ate was chocolate covered strawberries, marshmallows, Girl Scout cookies, and cupcakes. That aside, I didn’t even cringe when I looked at that Facebook feature “On This Day” where it shows you all the things you ever posted on a particular day on Facebook. A photo album full of pictures from my first Valentine’s Day with my ex popped up, but rather than roll my eyes and wistfully look at the pics, I just kept scrolling to see what else I posted. And then I came across this gem:

“Okay, look. I had to ask myself a really hard question. Who do I love most? And the answer was so obvious. It was staring me in the face the whole time. The person I love most is me. I love me most. Look, if I could run across the beach into my own arms, I would.” – Jackie Burkhart

I posted that quote from That 70’s Show on Valentine’s Day 2011. I think I relate to it more now than I did then. In 2011, I was 25 and so desperate to find the kind of love that was only seen in romantic comedies and Disney movies. At that time I was in an on again/off again “situationship” with a guy I pined over for so long — 3 years to be exact. For 3 years it was very “will we or won’t we?!” Or maybe it ended by that time? I don’t remember, and I deleted the guy’s “break up” email a long time ago, so I can’t look it up in GMAIL for reference. I’m sure I posted that quote to prove a point. Like, “Yeah, I don’t need a man. I HAVE ME!” when really I was an emo sack of shit that just wanted to be loved (goddammit)! Today, I can say I’ve experienced the kind of love I always dreamed of as a little girl, but it came and went in what feels like less than 12 parsecs. There are days where I feel completely jaded by how unlucky I’ve been with love, however I don’t put all my energy into dwelling on it like I did when I was in my early 20s. Now, I’m learning to love myself more despite my flaws (and holy shit, do I have many). There’s a million things I haven’t done, and men can wait! I will choose myself over any dude… besides Rory, obviously. Because every princess needs a furry sidekick! And if I’m going to go along with this whole princess schtick, I’m going to look up to Leia because she’s the OG self rescuing princess. If my Scruffy Looking Nerf Herder happens to come along one day, so be it. Until then, I’m not sitting by metaphorical wishing well hoping he’ll find me.

Maybe I should wear this shirt every Valentine’s Day. One can’t help but be relentlessly cheerful with such cute art on their person! How’d you spend your Valentine’s Day? Or are you like “meh, whatever” about it? Let’s talk about it in the comments!