The Depth Beauty
~ She wasn’t sure when she last saw her own beauty but she knew it was years, not mere days. Staring at her reflection in her armoire mirror, her soul began to shimmer in the early evening sunset. She lined her lips with rouge, put on her pearls, and felt alive again…and so it began, much like it all started, and how it always should’ve been, in the knowing of the depths of her own beauty. ~
In the view of every lens lies a beauty that needs to be captured. #beinthepicture
Often, in our pursuit to limit everything, we miss out on all the strengths. The beauty that doesn’t fit in a box or social square or sits outside the lines.
I’ll be honest, I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with pictures. Love because they’re able to capture breathtaking beauty, a moment, a feeling, a memory and hate because whenever I see a picture of myself, I’ve been conditioned to see a sum of my flaws rather than a collection of my own worth.
As women, we’re always in a constant state of being bombarded with messages of changing our bodies or the way we look. From cinched waists to big bums, to plump lips to dimple and wrinkle free skin, this manufactured picture of beauty has distorted the lens.
But what if we took the camera back. What if we started to look at images of ourselves and instead of picking out what we would change, acknowledge the parts we love, or the feelings associated with where we were when the photo was taken.
This needs to be a collective change. Together, we need to start celebrating and recognizing the many different ways women show up and share their beauty. But most importantly we need to start empowering and inspiring women that no matter who or what tries to distort their own version of beauty, they have the power to reject it and own their own. Providing women with tools and resources that remind them of their own beauty and being able to confidently stand in it is where true change will come.
Because the truth is there are a lot of companies that profit off the pain of women. The lost feelings of being unworthy or undeserving the way they are. The rejection of reflected appearances. They thrive and benefit from women feeling unloved and unattractive. So, it’s up to us to define our own standard. One that is full of support not judgment, one that is spirited not rife with competition. But mostly one that unleashes your inner sassi and knows that you’re beautiful the way you are and you’re so worthy and deserving of being in the picture.
Last I checked, the caterpillar doesn’t love itself any less even though it will become the butterfly!