Did you catch The City last night? Like many of us in our early twenties, we are conflicted between following our dreams or settling for our hearts. Whitney had to make a choice; to be with Jay, the potential love of her life, or to commit to her blossoming career in the fashion industry. One would think that love and career are mutually exclusive. They are not, but at this stage of debut into the working world, it is mutually exclusive. What needs to be asked is, what is your priority? The boy first and the career later, or vice versa?

Whitney chose career. And so did I. The boy will come later. The career builds a solid foundation for which a healthy relationship, if it happens, can eventually build on. When all your bases are covered, the rest come easily. When all your personal bases are covered, you really don't need anything else.

I found a new inspiration last night. I have always admire the leadership and strenght of Diane von Furstenberg, knowing that she is the president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA). That means Karl Lagerfeld has to answer to her. Amazing. 

Last night solidified her as a strong role model based on the wisedom which she bestowed on Whitney:

On love and heart-break, "My mother told me the most important thing: Absence to love is what the wind is to fire. If it's a little fire, the wind will blow it out. If it's a big fire, the wind will only intensify it."

On life, "The most important relationship you will ever have is with youself because no matter what happens, you will be with yourself."

How true that is. Before you can love another, before you can give selflessly, you must love yourself first. If you do not, then you will just be searching for someone to fill that void inside you, to fill up what you fail to do for yourself. That's not true love. It is not the emotional and mental co-dependency on another being. That is unhealthy and clingy. If you don't address the issues within you first...if you don't reconcile your past, you will only be temporarily covering it up, until it inevitably surfaces again. You will be repeating your past over and over again. 

So. Let's hear it for loving ourselves. Cheers to us.