Manifesto, by Sana Johnson-Quijada MD

1.  Taking care of Me is often not intuitive.  It feels like we are alone even though we are not.  We feel like strangers even though we are in familiar company.

2.   Being a friend to yourself means being a friend.  It’s that simple or that hard.

3.  We want a friend with whom we feel better about Me when we have been together, will encourage Me to be more and believes even before it happens.

4.  We can’t give what we don’t have.  Bank.

5.  I am likable.

6.  Me has a lot.  Use what we’ve got.

7.  I’m grateful when someone else initiates and does work thereafter toward connection.

8.  If we give a gift, don’t ask for it back or supervise what to do with it.

9.  The best paradigms to being our own friend are –

start and end with Me,

believe and pursue Magic,

Jungian typology

and the biopsychosocial models.

10. We are biological creatures with a mix of magic.

11. If you want to be involved in any part of your self above the ocean of biology, you have a paddle and board at your disposal – we call those the psychological and sociological selves.  Everything else about you is the ocean you float on – biology and magic.  Direct your efforts purposely.

12.  Sleep.

If you don’t understand, look it up.

13. We have an essence, an unchanging self.  We are more than the sum of our memories.

14. Emotions and behaviors come from the brain.  Not a cloud by day and fire by night.

15. I used to love to exercise because I had friends doing it with me.  Now I have movies.  Thank you Hollywood.  I hope to be someone for my grandkids in 30 years because of you.  Link indulgences to necessary acts of friendship to yourself that aren’t naturally fun.

16. Our one freedom in life is our choice not to be a victim.  Give it away if we want, but own what we did and we’ll be friendlier.  – Frankel

17. We are not special because we suffer.  We are special because we are human.

18. We were created to feel pleasure.