Multiple colorful hot air balloons floating over a landscape with ancient pyramid-like structures, greenery, roads, and small buildings during sunrise or sunset.
A close-up of a hanging, cream-colored flower with pointed petals, against a bright blue background.
Large pyramid and ruins at archaeological site with people walking and mountain in the background.
Hot air balloons floating over a town during a sunset.
Close-up of ancient stone carvings with geometric and floral patterns on a brick wall.

Self Love Journal.

Creating Self-Love Through Creativity

Welcome. You’ve landed on a page that’s all about reclaiming your own worth—not for anyone else’s approval, but for your own deep knowing.

My chapter “Not for Their Approval: Creating Self-Love Through Creativity” in Healing Curious Humans shares a simple but powerful truth: creativity can be a path back to yourself.

For me, creativity has always been my outlet for healing, allowing me to enter a state of flow and realize the wisdom and power that were inside me all along. Long before I had the words to explain it, I was journaling with color, cuttings from magazines, poems, photos, stickers—anything that could stick to a page and help me honor who I was, the pain I carried, and my longing for joy.

When I became trained as an Intentional Creativity® instructor, I finally had language for what I’d been doing for years: creating was my act of self-healing. The truth is, the power to heal ourselves is within each of us. We are created to heal—that’s how our souls evolve into the highest versions of ourselves.

This practice is one of my favorites, because it’s not about perfection. It’s about presence. It’s about giving yourself permission to celebrate your own beauty, strength, and resilience—without needing anyone else’s validation.

The “I Am Loved” Journal

This is a creative ritual for self-love. With just a few simple materials, you can make a journal that becomes a living, evolving testimony to the love you have for yourself.

Materials:

  • Several sheets of paper

  • Yarn and a hole punch

  • Old magazines

  • Markers, colored pencils, or acrylic markers

  • Optional: stickers, glitter, dried flowers—anything that calls to you

Steps:

  1. Create your book. Fold your sheets of paper in half. Along the crease, poke a few holes and sew yarn through to bind them into a simple journal.

  2. Design your cover. Make it clear: this is your self-love journal.

  3. Fill the pages with intention. Start anywhere. Write love letters to yourself. Create poems, doodles, or collages. Add images or words that remind you of your strengths and beauty. After meditation, journaling, or moments of connection, return here and let your creativity flow.

Each page you make is an act of healing. Each word, each color, each layer says: I am enough. I am worthy. I am loved.

Leah Johnson is the author of “Finding Fantastic Joy, How Building a Self-advocacy Campaign Led Me Out of the Darkness.” She is on a mission to help people find joy!

Leah was in a dark place for many years, but by making some drastic changes and continuing daily to make small ones, she has laid out a path in life for herself to find fantastic joy continually through deep spiritual practice. Life is hard, and there is always something, but by taking steps to make joy a priority, Leah has learned it makes getting through the hard stuff easier.

She has also spent the last decade building a strong relationship with the Divine Feminine and the power she offers for healing and growth. She now seeks to empower women to find the strength, healing, and joy she found in herself through her journey with the divine that leads to more joy!

Smiling woman with sunglasses and a hat pointing at a stepped pyramid Mayan archaeological site in Mexico.

Your Guide

Book titled "Finding Fantastic Joy" by Leah Johnson being held in front of the Mayan Pyramid of Kukulcán at Chichen Itza during the daytime.
Aerial view of ancient Mayan ruins with stone structures and pathways, surrounded by green trees and open land, some visitors walking around.
A religious artwork featuring the Virgin Mary surrounded by a floral border with yellow, pink, and purple flowers, set in a wooden frame.
Three ancient painted clay vessels with three legs on display behind glass.
A decorated round table with a blue and white patterned cloth, candles, dried flowers, photographs, artwork, and spiritual or tarot items used for meditation or ritual purposes.