Comfortable in My Skin

august 19, 2019

AUGUST 13, 2019

We’re all born PERFECTLY IMPERFECT, with strengths and, seemingly weaknesses, that if harnessed would be our own unique, individual superhuman powers!

I hated my dark skin and wanted to be lighter. Real talk, I thought I was lighter than I am.
I hated the gap between my two front teeth. I would never have a “colgate smile”!
I would trade everything I owned to be ’thick’. Instead, I was tall and skinny.
I was suffering from ‘nassatall’ and didn’t have much in the boob department either.
My hair was pressed and permed from an early age. I remember one dance recital for school when I had to wear cornrows, you talkin’ bout disgust. It had to be straight, and lord knows I did a length check religiously with my head popped back like a pez candy dispenser. *And this is just my looks. We haven’t even begun to talk about my other weaknesses that weren’t physical.*
I had to excel in everything I did to make up for what I “lacked” in terms of looks, hence the over-achiever syndrome.
*side note: most of my friends would slap the taste out of my mouth right now! I don’t think anyone I knew considered me unattractive. It’s funny how we perceive our own beauty.*

I have spent years working towards loving myself for who I am. It’s an on going daily practice and struggle. We are constantly bombarded with images of what “society” thinks beauty looks like, and it’s limited and narrow- minded at best. There’s beauty in everything. We need to adjust our lenses through adjusting our thoughts and outlook on life. I hope we all begin to see that how we think about ourselves and the world at large, the judgements you cast, and the value system we adhere to are all a product of self love or lack there of… This journey to entrepreneurship requires self exploration, discovery, and a ton of work. I want to offer hope to anyone else fighting to live with more purpose and passion. In order to be of service to others I must know who I am and what I have to offer. Skipping these vital steps is impossible if the service is to be authentic.

Beauty is a reflection of your thoughts. “How Sway?” True beauty is based on how you function as a loving being. We have to learn the beauty in our uniqueness. Can you love yourself without fancy makeup, jewelry or hair? Do you love the features you have naturally? Do you see the beauty in others?

I used to cringe at the thought of taking a picture, and more often than not focused on every “flaw” I saw in photos of me. It’s taken years of daily personal work to stop hiding, concealing and embellishing my features and start embracing them. I hope you embrace yours too!

playing with purpose

As I grappled with deciding to do a new playful makeup look or post one of my old ones, I had to remind myself that the purpose of this blog was to show my evolution through all of my struggles to becoming the woman I’ve always hoped I’d be. So, here it is. This is the first look I did after taking my therapist’s advice to start playing with childhood passions again. In my latest Personal Reflections post, I mentioned a great exercise for discovering your passions, hidden skills, and talents. Try exploring interests you had as a child. Too often we suppress our creative sides as adults, because we have responsibilities and all the other excuses for why we don’t make time to continue to aspire to live beyond the hamster wheel. I think it’s just as important to our maturation to continue to delve into our creative genius. We don’t know how working to hone creativity could supplement other areas of our lives. That’s my push right now; Well-roundedness.