Happy February 💗
I know we're all going to be reading a lot of Valentine's Day posts over the next week, and in keeping with the theme of love, I wanted to touch on a subject that has always been near and dear to my heart - self love.
It's no secret that I've struggled with body image. My parents always stressed the "importance" of physical appearance. They taught me that I was essentially nothing if I wasn't pretty. I'm not writing this to put down my parents. They both come from traumatic backgrounds, and mental illness runs in my family so I partly blame their misguided beliefs on what they experienced as children. But growing up, I felt worthless. I would think, "If I'm not pretty, then what good am I?" Kids would tease me, and this question always came up: "So what nationality are you anyway?" I don't know why that bothered me but it did. I'm half Mexican and part English, German, and Scottish. Does that matter? Maybe to some people, but I don't identify with anything because I've felt out of place most of my life.
"People always say you should be yourself, like yourself is this definite thing, like a toaster or something. Like you can know what it is, even."
Wearing //
Banana Republic bag, lovely option for less!
I've started to unfollow bloggers who cause me to constantly compare myself. It's so easy to do, and to feel like you're in competition when it shouldn't be about that at all. It's not their fault of course, I shouldn't allow people to have so much power over my thinking. But I wish some would be more upfront and honest about things like photoshopping, and brands that they work with (but don't disclose).
If you're constantly complaining about your weight in every post, or if your goal in life is to have the perfect thigh gap, I can't really deal with that type of obsessive behavior. I don't think it's healthy, and more and more I want to promote positive body image on this blog and in my own life (thank you Alissa for inspiring me on this). I may not enjoy kale smoothies or do cardio every day, but when I work out, I do feel like a badass afterward.
Look what our female bodies can do! We have the ability to give life! I know plenty of women who beat themselves up over how their bodies have changed after having children. I like to call it a transformation. We aren't supposed to remain the same throughout life; appearances will change. If you want to fix something because it really affects you, then do it for YOU, not for anyone else or because society dictates you should. One example I have is getting my hair blown out a couple times per month. Maybe you think that's hypocritical, and that's fine. But it makes me feel better about myself.
Over the weekend I saw my friend dance and perform her heart out alongside some fabulous women. It once again inspired me to accept my body. I saw all shapes, all sizes, all ages...Those women OWNED it! And really, we all should. It's the one thing that is truly ours.
So, even though it's not Valentine's Day yet, I just wanted to wish you all a happy month filled with less negative self talk and more self love. Encourage the girls and women in your lives to do the same please. It's not easy, I'm sure I'll slip up a lot on here and you can totally call me out when I do. But I will try my best not to.
"It's good to get really dressed up once in a while and admit the truth - that when you really look closely, people are so strange and so complicated that they're actually...beautiful."
Bonus points for any 90's kids that can tell me in the comments where the quotes I wrote here came from. It is one of my favorite t.v. shows of all time. It's all SO true.
