Mental health experts have long championed the importance of self-love as foundational for healthy human relationships. Caring for ourselves helps us in turn care for others: friends, family, romantic partners, colleagues and even strangers. So no matter your relationship status this "season of love" surrounding St. Valentine's eponymous holiday, remember to show yourself some, too.
Maybe that takes the form of a trip to BRAZEN, a new lifestyle boutique on North Monroe Street that caters to all genders and sexual preferences. Celebrate the power of self-expression and the physical body carrying you along life's journey at the BOMBSHELL REVUE'S next burlesque show. No one needs a partner to enjoy a judgment-free photoshoot with PAPER TIGER PHOTOGRAPHY'S Becca Daniels, who loves to be her client's biggest cheerleader. If our story about her inspires you to book a boudoir photo shoot, and you need something "you" to wear (or not wear) for it, BULL STITCH SEWING can help with custom-made lingerie.
The thread uniting these four stories in this year's "Love & Sex" issue is loud and proud: Local small businesses whose owners' mission is to reject shame, judgment and conformity in favor of celebrating our bodies in all shapes and sizes, and the gift of loving ourselves first.
— CHEY SCOTT, Arts & Culture Editor
