I hope everyone is enjoying their Saturday! John and I are about to head out the door in a few hours to attend his cousin’s wedding. It’s cold and rainy (love it!), and it would be a perfect night to stay in comfy clothes and start a fire. Alas, it’s not to be tonight. That’s okay! I really love weddings!
Today is Self-Esteem Saturday, and I ran across something in the blog world this week that I knew would be perfect for the occasion. Steph wrote a beautiful post last week in which she challenged all of us as women to find our beauty.
I know all of us are very aware of the pressure that women feel to look or be a certain way. We are constantly bombarded with images of “perfect” looking supermodels and actresses on movies, television, and magazines causing us all to feel a little unsure and self-conscious. Never mind the fact that these women don’t even look like that in real life!
Lately, I’ve noticed a slight shift in this area when it comes to actresses. Perhaps I’m just wanting to see it, but there seems to be more and more “normal” looking women. I love this! I honestly believe that many times we are our own biggest critic and enemy. As we began to see more and more role models that we can relate to, perhaps we will all feel a like we can ease up on ourselves just a bit.
Because what is truly important for us to remember (repeat it everyday if you have to!) is those things that make us all beautiful are on the inside not the outside! Which brings me back to Steph and her awesome October Beauty Challenge. This reminds me a lot of the mirror challenge that Chelsie did a few weeks ago. Steph is challenging all of us to take a picture of ourselves sans makeup, hair fixes, and any of the products we sometimes find ourselves enslaved to. She instructs us to look at that picture and find what really makes us beautiful. I think this is such an interesting challenge. I know so many women who feel like they can’t even leave the house without being fully made-up. Obviously, there’s nothing wrong with makeup or dressing up. The problem lies in why we’re doing it. Do you feel pressure (intrinsic or extrinsic) to look a certain way? Do you feel like your worth is all in how you look?
So here’s my picture and what makes me beautiful. I’ll be honest-I didn’t have a problem taking a picture without makeup. I go out without it all the time. It did, however, take me awhile to really recognize what I found beautiful about myself. It’s not something that I’ve ever really thought about, and it was definitely a challenge.
I encourage all of you to do this as well. Go over to Steph’s blog and read all about her challenge, and, if you decide to participate, please come back and tell me all about it! We are strong enough to change the world 
I’ve included some beautiful women in my life. Who are some in yours?
Yay! You are BEAUTIFUL! Thank you so much for participating!
Thank you for such a great idea!
You can move mountains, Sis:)
I love you! Did you really just come see me? I miss you!
One and a half weeks, countdown begins! Love you:)
Yay!
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Natalie, you are so beautiful and inspirational! I’ve been very fortunate to have very strong women in my life–my mom, sisters, grandma, aunts, cousins, friends and even a one-of-a-kind professor. I know I wouldn’t be who I am today without these women, and I hope I can inspire others as these ladies have inspired me.
Thanks, Carrie
I know what you mean…I was so fortunate to grow up in a very female dominant world that gave me a unique perspective in navigating life!
You are absolutely beautiful! I definitely agree that it’s hard to pick out what we think it beautiful about ourselves, but you picked a beautiful quality.
Thanks, Amanda
I really do think we’re conditioned to look at and worry about the outside. Most women are very uncomfortable examining anything else!
Truth. Maybe we feel like we have more control over our physical flaws instead of our flaws otherwise?
Yeah, I think you may be on to something. I know when I feel like I have no control over things in my life, it always manifests itself into being more obsessive about my food and exercise.
Same here. I actually started running regularly when my life was crazy busy and I wanted a little more control over it, now that I think about it! Weird, haha.
Love this, and love your reason for why you’re beautiful. (You also have fantastic cheekbones
) I agree with you about our reasoning behind wearing make-up. If you’re doing it because of external societal pressures, or you feel like you can’t leave the house without being fully made-up, it’s probably signifies a less-than-healthy relationship with looks. It’s sad, though, because girls are introduced to make-up at such a young age, in toy form, or as something you can apply to your dolls to make them prettier. It’s literally engrained in the fabric of our society, teaching girls that wearing make-up is something they need to do to be pretty. I think the Dove Real Beauty campaign, and actresses who are appearing on magazine covers without Photoshop are taking important strides. Thank you for this thought-provoking post!
Wow! I love that you brought up little girls “playing” with makeup. That’s something that I’ve really been thinking a lot about lately. It’s something that has just become natural that I don’t think a lot of parents give any consideration too, but I can’t help but wonder what kind of message it’s sending. Thank you for the cheekbone compliment
I love this! Thank you so much for posting
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