My whole life, I've had issues with my body. I didn't hate my body but thanks to a society that seeks validation in over-photoshopped ads and magazines, I have always seen the things that aren't perfect. “That being said, I have supportive parents who have told me since I was young to love my body regardless of the society around me.”

I'm 23, and I can say most of my middle school and high school experiences involved me hiding my body instead of celebrating it.

I went years of my life not wearing shorts in the 90-degree heat because I was afraid of my thick calves, wearing sleeves or shawls to cover my upper arms, and refusing to get into the swimming pool because I didn't want to show people my body in a bathing suit. My summers were miserable.

It was years later that I realized my body, regardless of its flaws was beautiful. The real defining part of my life when I learned just how normal my body was is when my friend Anna had asked me to nude model for her art portfolio two years ago. Anna, an amazing painter with an eye for beauty wanted me fully in the buff, so I said yes.

This was the first time I had ever been fully naked in front of someone in broad daylight with a camera. It was uncomfortable and really weird at first. The first pictures showed how rigid and unrelaxed I was. My movements and poses seemed forced and fake. But as we went on, we both started warming up (this was her first time doing this with someone too).

We started cracking jokes and laughing so the photos at the end of the shoot seemed so natural. I'm almost always laughing so it would seem most natural for me to have a big goofy smile on my face. I realized Anna's eyes were not criticizing my body but appreciating it's artistic appeal.

When she sent me her favorites from the shoot, I audibly gasped. There I was, butt naked, with all of my flaws...and I looked beautiful. It would have been easy to edit and photoshop out my stretch marks, the scars on my knees, or my plentiful bruises, and yet even with all of them, I looked amazing. I remember showing someone the pictures and them commenting on how I looked like a renaissance painting in one of them, that comment stuck with me forever.

Ever since that day, I can find beauty in every inch of my body. For some, it takes years to get to that level of self-acceptance. My body is not the definition of traditional beauty, and yet there is so much about it I wouldn't change. Every scar I found ugly is now a story I can show a souvenir from.

In 2018, I want to see people learn to love their bodies. I'm not saying you have to strip down and be naked 24/7 but actually look at yourself one day. Appreciate the things that make you different and special. It's hard to find beauty in things we've been told our whole lives are ugly.

But those things, the things that make you special are gorgeous and so are you.