You know, before COVID hit,

I was supposed to go on tour,

and now the only performing I do is in my living room

with cat-specific songs.

(gentle piano music)

♪ And I have six cats ♪

♪ Six cats ♪

♪ If I could I'd have all the cats ♪

♪ All the cats ♪

♪ How many cats is too many cats ♪

♪ Too many cats ♪

♪ There's no such number, number ♪

♪ And I have six cats ♪

♪ Six cats ♪

♪ I wish I had infinity cats ♪

♪ Infinity cats ♪

♪ You should adopt a couple of cats ♪

♪ I have six cats ♪

♪ This is Lily ♪

♪ She's my oldest kitty ♪

♪ This is Abby ♪

♪ She's a fat tabby ♪

♪ This is Beetle ♪

♪ He's a chunky kitty ♪

♪ This is Congress ♪

♪ He's dumb and he doesn't do anything ♪

♪ And I have six cats ♪

♪ Six cats ♪

♪ If I could I'd have all the cats ♪

♪ All the cats ♪

♪ How many cats is too many cats ♪

♪ Too many cats ♪

♪ There's no such number, number ♪

♪ And I have six cats ♪

♪ Six cats ♪

♪ I wish I had infinity cats ♪

♪ Infinity cats ♪

♪ You should adopt a couple of cats ♪

♪ I have six cats ♪

But I digress.

I think we can all agree that 2020 was,

well, it was a reckoning, you know,

a real test of our mental stability or a lack of.

It's just, it was just, wow.

Wow!

And I think in these dire times, you know,

I've noticed an uptick in pseudo spiritual peddling.

You can't love someone if you don't love yourself.

You don't know true forgiveness until you forgive yourself.

You can't blah, blah, blah

until blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

You know, we've all heard these phrases before.

And I admit, I bought them.

- Can I help you with anything?

- Yes.

I would like to take one oversimplification

in my ability to love, please.

- Great, that'll just be a couple of years of wasted time.

Should I gift wrap it?

- You know what?

Yes, I'm gonna splurge.

This is a gift for me, #selfcare.

- It's already working.

(Anna laughs)

- And sure, okay,

maybe there's some wisdom in this hackneyed phrase.

Would loving yourself deepen intimacy with another?

Yeah, absolutely.

If we can approach ourselves with self-love and acceptance,

we're probably more apt to open up to others,

be vulnerable, show them all sides of ourselves

instead of hiding away the parts we don't like.

But I ultimately hate this phrase,

'cause I think it has it backwards.

I think loving other people

teaches you how to love yourself.

The depth of which we can give to others,

forgive others, love others.

That is a mirror to exactly how capable we are.

And I think across the board,

it is way harder to give yourself the same graces

that we often give to other people.

For most of us, that's where the work is.

Treating ourselves with the same generosity

that we give to the people we love,

because the way we treat ourselves typically is horrifying.

- Hey, you're doing a great job.

Thanks.

At being a total loser.

Like seriously, you're acing it. (laughs)

- Melissa, are you listening to your inner critic again?

- Yeah.

- Okay, get away from the mirror, girl.

Go.

Hey, great job helping your friend.

Thanks.

Be completely self-conscious.

Honestly, it's amazing how obnoxious you can be.

I don't know if I've ever met anyone more annoying.

(beep) You.

I'm Anna Akana,

and thank you to the Patreons who supported this video,

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