Beautiful Like Me — Seeing The Beauty!
Today I am posting for the Beautiful Like Me Project, a project dedicated to raising awareness about the lack of self-esteem and poor body image in today’s youth. We are inviting anyone and everyone to please join us in spreading the word. Please feel free to join in anytime. Also please take a minute to see the other Beautiful Like Me Posters (listed below)! Together we can help today’s youth have a positive self-image!
This weeks topic is:
What event or time did you feel your most beautiful?
How did this event shape your view of yourself?
Do your family, friends and children know about this event and how important it was?
Well, I am “a day late and a dollar short”, as the saying goes!
Have I mentioned (only every post) that this project is difficult for me. I read the questions, they seem basic and easy and then I go to write and I am stuck … there seems to be a pattern here, it is not getting easier. This week I am struggling with the fact that each and every time that I can think of that I felt at my most beautiful really relates to the superficial outside beauty … my wedding day for instance. I wore the traditional white dress, had my hair, nails and make up done professionally, etc… everyone told me how beautiful I was (of course they did, I was the bride, what else were they to say?) Along the same idea I have always felt quite beautiful when I was pregnant … heck it was the only time that I could gain weight and it was okay!!! I personally think that an expecting mom is gorgeous … you can see it in their face! And then I can think of a handful of other times that I have truly felt beautiful but all related more to what I was wearing, etc…
I am frustrated because this seems like just the opposite of what this project should be about. In my mind teaching about beauty should be about the inner beauty of each individual. Seeing the beauty of ones self and others through who you (they) are not by what is worn or seen on the outside. My co-hosts (who posted promptly) each made wonderful points … Tricia speaks of how her brain makes her feel beautiful, confidence and knowledge builds power and beauty. I agree and although I can sit here and look back, think of a few times that I performed beautifully or with great confidence and indeed it was beautiful BUT did I feel it at the time? I just do not think so. And Wicked Step Mom speaks of the beauty that her family brings to her … WOW I could not agree more. As a mother and wife I am proud, have become confident and there is much beauty within my family … BUT again do I feel it at the time?
So what am I saying? Am I too stuck in the idea that outer beauty is what we see and what we judge beauty on.
I DO NOT WANT THAT TO BE ME!
I want to see the inner beauty and believe that I do in others … but not in myself.
WHY IS THIS?
So then I got to thinking … I have spent years telling my children how beautiful they are, every little inch of them, even when they are at their worse. I have spent years showing my children the beauty around them in nature, in others, in kindness, etc… BUT do they see it in themselves? How can I help them, guide them, teach them to see the inner beauty within themselves. To see it, to respect it, to honor it!
Today, I can not offer an answer to these questions but I am going to seek answers so please I would love your thoughts, ideas, resources. Do you see your own inner beauty?
For more wonderful thoughts on building self esteem stop by all the other beautiful blogs that are supporting the Beautiful Like Me Project! I will be adding as people post:
Please join us anytime, if you post leave a message with your link and I will add you to my list! Together we can make a difference, each story told touches someones life!
Here you can look at past Beautiful Like Me Posts!
Here is our topic for the next Beautiful Like Me Post and you can always go to the Project Main Page for a list of topics and other information.
What questions, ideas, etc … would you like to see explored?
Maybe I can help….let me tell you about some of the times you’ve been absolutely beautiful…
Remember when we were in Dr. Rosman’s office and he took pity on me and brought out the ultrasound machine and we got to see Aaron for the very first time. You were 10 weeks pregnant and Aaron looked like an alien in there. Remember how he jumped and I screamed with delight and started crying. I remember the look on your face…the pride, the empowerment, the love? You were beautiful.
Remember when we were in the hospital waiting for Aaron to be born and when he finally was, you looked at me and said through an exhausted voice and with tears in your eyes, “Your baby is here. You’re a mom” And then I fell into your arms and we sobbed together with pure joy and thanks? You were absolutely beautiful.
Remember when your father was so ill and you found the strength to let him go and to be a rock for your mom? During that challenging time, you were beautiful.
Remember when you held Caitlyn in your arms the first time and after more than 24 hours of labor and a difficult delivery, you smiled? You were beautiful.
Remember every time in the last five years that you’ve absolutely bucked convention and made decisions for your family that are more non-conformist than anyone I know, but you’ve held strong in your beliefs and chosen to take a journey you believe in? Every time you move forward on your new path, you are beautiful.
I could continue, but since I’ve known and loved you for 24 years, I’d fill your whole blog with all the moments when you’ve been and continue to be absolutely beautiful.
As for your question about helping your children continue to see internal beauty rather than external…maybe the first place to start is with yourself. If you start recognizing all that is beautiful about you, maybe it’ll be easier to walk the talk.
I love you my beautiful friend.
Thank you, Tricia – my dear friend!
I struggled with the same thoughts as you did. I wondered if I was seeing the beauty in myself while I was doing what I could look back on and think of a beautiful. And for me, for the first time in a long time, being comfortable in my own skin is what I see as beautiful.
I had a poster that shows a vase of gorgeous red roses. Popping right out in the middle of those roses is a white daisy. The caption reads “Be your own kind of beautiful.” I might not fit the Hollywood image of beautiful but I have my moments when I feel like no one has it better than me. Those are my times to shine.
And I really loved what Tricia write! Made me get all weepy and I don’t even know her!
Your post is so honest! I can relate to your struggle. I can say the three times I felt most beautiful was at my senior prom, wedding day, and now being pregnant. But I think that had more to do with the people surrounding me, celebrating me than how I looked on the outside. I could have gotten married in a burlap sack and still feel gorgeous. I think that’s the case with you too. When I was still organizing Enchanted Closet, the program that outfitted underprivileged high school girls with prom dress, we’d tell them that the dress, hair, make-up were just reflections of what was inside (if your personality was ugly, no dress was going to make you look better). We’d do a whole day session on kindness, manners, altruism, health, purpose.