Beauty is…
When I decided to start writing again, I scribbled those two little words on a piece of paper – yeah, I’m old school. I stared at them, doodled around the edges, and pondered those teeny, tiny little words for over a week.
Nothing happened.
I had nothing to write about the concept of beauty, even though it was something at the forefront of my mind. I mean, I have a beauty group on Facebook, after all. Let’s not forget my bank-account-draining love of make-up and fashion. Yet here I was without a single thing to write about the subject.
That’s when it dawned on me – I had absolutely no clue what beauty truly means, since I had never defined it for myself. Since I was a little girl, I’ve let society tell me what they think beauty is, and I’ve internalized every single word.
I meticulously analyzed every inch of my body, wardrobe, and personality; then I ran it through society’s Beauty-o-meter 3000. And let me tell you, the results were not good. All I could see when I looked in the mirror was the failing beauty score I thought I deserved because I was either too much of this or too little of that.
Let’s be real here, do you know how hard it is to climb the ever-growing mountain of beauty expectations when you have red hair, pale freckled skin, and size 10 shoes? Pretty darn hard.
Who knew that staring at two little words would invoke such a profound realization? I certainly didn’t, but here I am with GIANT question marks floating around in my mind.
What does beauty mean for me? What makes me feel beautiful? How can I help others discover what makes them feel beautiful? Have I stared at the word beauty for too long and now it’s starting to look funny? Is it even a word? Am I onto something deep, or am I just hangry? Now I want tacos. What was I talking about again?
Beauty. Real beauty. A concept that I’ve defined for myself, outside the bounds of what someone else tells me it’s supposed to mean.
So here I am on a mission to change the way we see beauty. I want to discover what it really means to feel beautiful inside and out. To forget about carrying around the burden of “not good enough” when it comes to how I look and feel.
Now repeat after me, “I’m going to eat tacos in public, wearing sweat pants, with no make-up on, and I’m going to enjoy EVERY SINGLE MINUTE OF LIFE!”
Whew! That felt good to get out.
Join me on an adventure to discover new ways of feeling beautiful from the inside out. Hopefully together we can learn a thing or two (hundred) about ourselves along the way.
I want to hear from you! Tell me what makes you feel beautiful and join the conversation on Instagram and Facebook @DerbyCityBeauty!
Cheers to the journey,
Addy K.
FB: Derby City Beauty Instagram: @DerbyCityBeauty Email: Derbycitybeauty@gmail.com
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