Hi all! Things have been pretty go-go-go with work this last week so I haven't been in blogland much...and I miss it! I'm trying to get back in the swing of it and finishing up my new site by tweaking it to loveliness. Thanks for your patience :)
So I've been wanting to write about body image and self love for awhile... and then came along this Love Your Body Link-up with Alicia and Rachel. I'm just catching the tail-end of it, but am glad I can share this.
I am so proud and excited to be apart of the Vagina Monologues this year. This is a production, based on interviews with thousands of women. It's fruition came to life by a sociologist, Eve Ensler. The stories of these women are hilarious, sorrowful, angering, and inspiring, but above all, they are making a statement that vaginas are powerful. I feel this is so important because it's time for people to speak up and love themselves.
It took me quite a few years through middle school, high school and college of hiding my body, uncomfortable about my weight and what clothes would show tummy pudge. I was discouraged from wearing a bikini. In 4th grade a girl commented on a posed dance costume photo that I looked pregnant. That totally hurt and I didn't understand. Then I used to crave lots of attention from males. I always was with a different guy. I realize I was trying to be whatever they wanted me to be. And that will never work... thank goodness. What a blessing to discover our true selves and celebrate it! ...Needless to say, I got through those developing years and became more comfortable with myself.
I now know that beauty is in our true expression - in every person's perfect imperfections. It's our own story that we each tell. And it's in actively speaking that true, not passively swallowing whatever comes. But on one hand, I don't feel like society encourages us to express what we love about ourselves. I see this even amongst the 5 year olds I work with, who tell the teacher "so-and-so was braggiiiing" when the girl was proud of something she did. I say ~ Share what you love and be proud of it!
Now I'd like to share a few things I love about myself :)
I LOVE: ........the giant freckle on my big toe............my speckled brown-green changing colored eyes.......my teeth (parents are happy about their investment in this one)..........hips, hips, hips...... and, fun fact - my single chin hair (it's my 'beard of wisdom')!
What do you love about yourself?? What does beauty mean to you?
