The Issue of Body Confidence: The Little Things
In a world where we are completely ensnared in the media, it is basically impossible not to come across pictures of models or celebrities on a daily basis. Now, having a tumblr I am fully aware of how much young girls idolise such women to the extent where they are starving themselves simply for the oh so desired thigh gap. Believe me, I have had those days and it is not worth it.
It is incredibly difficult to get through a day without insecurities crossing my mind. To the extent of whenever I encounter a reflective surface, I instantly pick out flaws whether it be that my hair has frizzed, or that I didn't successfully cover a spot, I have had my down days. But then in contrast, I have those days where I just wake up and feel pretty. Now some girls say that means you're self centred or self obsessed, but I live by the motto 'If you can't love yourself, who will?'.
This is going to sound incredibly cliche, but if you think about it, who has actually defined what is considered to be beautiful? Is it someones height? Weight? Facial structure? Eye colour? Exactly. There is no book that we are all handed at birth stating what beautiful means. In fact, no matter who you look at, there is always something beautiful about them. No matter who it is, if you look hard enough, you'll find something beautiful. I actually read an interview with a designer who said that he finds beauty by looking at the simple things in people whether it be their dimples, or the crinkles by their eyes when they smile. It is rather beautiful to think that a person who 'dictates' fashion is able to look at the average individual and find elements of beauty. In fact, I actually tried this at school the other day by looking at both boys and girls, whether I liked them or not and I picked out little things about them that I liked. It may sound really odd, but it was rather amazing to look at a girl that I don't particularly get on well with and say that I like the shape of her eyes, or that she has perfect eyebrows. Now, if you plan on replicating my little experiment, do not stare down the individual, but if your gaze happens to drift over to them, quickly pick out a couple of things. Of course, if you're seriously shy, you can always go onto their facebook and stare at their profile picture for ages, whatever floats your boat.
So basically, the point of this little experiment was that if you can find elements of beauty in those that surround you, why not look for them in yourself? No matter how insecure you are feeling, there are always things that you can find in yourself that you love. On days where I'm feeling down, I sit in front of the mirror for a couple of minutes and look for things in my appearance that I like. On some days it has been things as simple as I like the shape of my nails, or the colour of my eyes. I know it sounds simple and even as I'm writing this, it does seem rather odd, but on days where you're feeling low, it is harder than it seems.
That was one of the things I started to do a while back where I slipped into a phase where my insecurities were at an all time low. Now, facial insecurities are a whole other issue comparative to body.
Like I said prior, in a world where there is constant exposure to skinny celebrities and models, it is hard to feel adequate, but one thing I always bear in mind is that no matter how hard I try, I will never look like Candice Swanepoel simply because we are not the same person. Sure, if I spent more of my time in the gym than I did asleep, my body may look slightly closer to hers, but we have different genes therefore meaning that we are never going to look alike!
This post is basically an introduction to the series on body confidence that I'm about to start, so be prepared for more rants and advice(ish). All I want all of you is to remember, that there will always be things about you that are beautiful. Always.