On Monday, I talked all about “Madly In Love with ME,” an empowering movement that inspires and helps women and girls to start loving themselves. Christine Arylo is the trailblazer behind this movement. In addition to founding Madly In Love with ME, she’s also author of Choosing ME Before WE, The Everywoman’s Guide to Life and Love.
I’m thrilled that she took the time to answer a couple of my questions about how to develop “unwavering, unconditional love” and how to find the real, authentic you.
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One woman at a time…we can change the world!! A self-love revolution!
Absolutely, Stephanie! 
Madly In Love with Me is an important movement and I hope it inspires countless women and girls.
I have loved myself for a long time. I am 63 and it has been a long journey. I grew up with a violent mother (physically and verbally abusive), molested, never knew my father (met him when I was 32); extremely poor; No phone, car, refrigerator etc….120-year old tenement house where snow came in through a crack in the wall.
Joined the army right out of high school; from a little town in Maine to San Francisco at the height of the Vietnam War….totally innocent and naive.
“Married” the original abuser (mother) and tried to fix the past……36 years, and then found the book that saved my life and sanity: THe Verbally Abusive Relationship by Patricia Evans (Believe it should be read by everyone on the planet). 1 in 3 women abused and every 9 seconds a woman is assaulted.
I believe we are all here for a purpose, and it is one of my passions to get the message out there regarding verbal abuse (usually goes unrecognized…even by therapists)…I am the moderator of an abused survivors’ group.
Voted out of a 31-year church membership (thus, the website)..have always been able to make something positive come from the “ashes” of my life. I fought the spiritually abusive system for 18 months to try and stop the “pastor” from “counseling” any more women, etc., etc….
I won a women’s scholarship (age 60) and am back in school; I won it because I wrote about my life. i am a member of the ACA, and keep sending my paper (for the conference). It is entitled: Society’s Hidden “Epidemic”–Verbal Abuse: Precursor to Physical Violence and a Form of Biochemical Assault.
I’ve written a book of poetry: Sanctuary of the Soul (in process of publication), and my memoir: Ghost Child to Triumph (from a child with no voice, to someone who speaks up against injustice)..
My endorsements take my breath away: Elie Weisel, Dr. Larry Dossey, Alice Miller, Nikki Giovanni, Wayne Dyer….14 in all.
I have been on 2 different radio stations speaking about abuse against women (1 in 3 abused and every 9 seconds a woman is assaulted)….these are GLOBAL statistics…..I will eventualy be on FOX News/O’Reilly Report.
Smiles, Allison
Feel free to e-mail me (anyone)!!
@ Allison, thank you for sharing your story! It’s incredibly inspirational. I’m so sorry that you had to go through those terrible things.
No matter what you’ve been through, loving yourself, listening to your needs, and being kind to yourself are so important. Thanks for emphasizing that, too.
BTW, I love Elie Weisel. He spoke at FSU, where I was an undergrad at the time, and he just blew me away. I’ve always admired him.
Congrats on your book! I wish you well!
It hard to know how I am what who I am is always changing.
Alison
7:54 pm on
February 23rd, 2011I really enjoyed reading this interview. I appreciate Christine Arylo’s words so much, and as a young woman in her mid-20s, my journey towards self love is an important one right now.
I wanted to let you all know that there is a recent series of short interviews with Christine about Self Love over here: http://bit.ly/eKPLSe. I hope you find them enriching and informative, and if you feel so inclined, it would be great if you could share the videos with your communities. Have a lovely day!
@ Alison, thanks so much for stopping by and commenting. Glad you enjoyed the interview!
Oh Lord have mercy on me as I just now begin learning how to love myself after 19 years of eating disordered thoughts.
I read this article with my mouth wide open and getting more and more freaked as the article went on.
But I am willing to do the work to get to the place I deserve to be at.
We all deserve it.
@ Jenn Delage, I know the idea of self-love may seem overwhelming but it’s totally one step at a time. And like you said, you absolutely deserve to love and appreciate yourself. I’m glad you’re starting the journey!
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