Is it just me, or does it seem as though every time we girls turn on the TV, radio, or step outside, we are bombarded with advertisements that promise to make us beautiful?
Hair dyes, weight loss pills, exercise machines, plastic surgery, hair removal tactics, creams and scrubs--basically everything short of a magic wand, held by a beautiful, airbrushed celebrity urging you to take part in some over the counter cosmetic remedy to make you look a certain way and change your life around, claiming that said product "gave them their life back."
And it occurs to me, that we want to "take our lives back" by modeling ourselves after the next "it" girl. We want to "take our lives back" by not living our lives as ourselves at all. What a sad falsity it is to try to achieve freedom by surrendering every aspect of oneself to fit a mold we may have never been intended to fill.
We, as unique, intelligent, able women, spend so much time out of our lives focusing on trying to be the next predisposed idea of beautiful, that we neglect to implore when we feel the most beautiful and chase it.
You know what I'm talking about. The kind of beautiful that makes you feel total, utter acceptance and admiration for yourself. The kind of beautiful that makes you have confidence in who you are as a human being. The kind of beautiful that lets you know that you were made for this life. The kind of beautiful that doesn't come from the measurements of your waste or the size of your chest.
I thought about when I feel this way. I feel this way when I am holding a baby who is starring starry-eyed at the world around him, seeing nothing but newness and beauty. I feel this way when I am encouraging my fellow human beings to search into themselves to find intense love for their being and their human counterparts. I feel this way when I am talking constructively with someone who loves me, when we are comparing and contrasting ideas, and growing. I feel this way when I read literature and realize that somewhere, somehow, in these beautiful words, there lies someone else who feels exactly the same way I do, and I am apart of something bigger. I feel this way when I write. I feel this way when I look at art. When I am reminded that I am a sister, a girlfriend, a daughter, a granddaughter, a friend. Truly Beautiful.
This is me. These are things make me feel the purest kind of beautiful, and they are permanent and unchanging, because they are deeply imbedded in who I am. How could I ever feel anything but beautiful ever again?
So then I got this idea. This crazy, awesome idea.
I wondered what makes other women feel Truly Beautiful, and what would happen if we all took time to investigate this inside of ourselves and encourage and praise this in each other. So, with the help of one of my amazing friends from my hometown, I set out to collect a myriad of selfies that reflected what makes my fellow sisters out there feel beautiful, and to my surprise, I had many volunteers willing to send a selfie and their name with what makes them Truly Beautiful. When you look at these ladies, you are looking at authentic, real souls. Real Women. Real Names.You are looking at something Truly Beautiful.
Ashley Olenski
Alli Kitts
Beth Herndon
Lisa McKinley
Kayla Williams
Kelsie Utz
Leisha Kinsner
Emily Trexler
Maddy Kilmer
McKenzie Schrank
Emma Wallace
Brianna Martino
Bryce White
Brittany Whatley
Amelia Carr
Gabby Mazza
Alexis Bailey
Amanda Ritchie
Cassie Olenski
Haley Olenski
Truly Beautiful things come in all different exteriors. Truly Beautiful things come in many different reasons. Truly Beautiful women are empowered and kind and strong and smart. We are real, we are here, and we are Truly Beautiful.
