“I went to take a sip of water and all of it dropped out of my mouth. I looked in the mirror to find half of my face sagging. Paralyzed. My face just stopped working.”
It Isn’t Shallow To Want To Look Beautiful—Until It Steals Your Joy
Your Worth Is Not Determined By Your Appearance: A Guide To Self-Love During The Pandemic
“I’ve gained 30 pounds during quarantine. I can’t button my pants anymore. It’s hard to look in the mirror. And I’ve been stuck at my home with nothing but my thoughts and my new adult body.”
‘I gathered the courage to ask, ‘Would you let me paint your head?’ She’d hidden her baldness under a wig most of her life.’: Artist befriends woman with alopecia to show ‘baldness is beautiful’
“She decided to stop hiding and ‘come out.’ When I finished, Julia would not stop looking at her head in the mirror. ‘It’s like I am someone else, I feel like a star.’ Her beauty and energy are captivating.”
‘When the doctor screamed, ‘It’s a girl!’ I pictured ribbons, bows, and princess movies. Having a daughter is nothing like I thought it would be.’: Girl mom urges ‘it is so very much more’
“It’s repeating her worth to her, over and over (and over) again. It’s reassuring her she is capable, even when others diminish her because she’s ‘a girl.’ It’s reminding her that her body is a vessel to be loved, respected, and adored, not abused.”
‘She was uninvited because she is ‘not pretty enough, skinny enough.’ At 9 years old, her heart has already been broken by unkindness.’: Mom urges ‘love yourself the way you want her to love herself’
“At 9, they’ve already commented on her body, her face, her clothes, her family. Those words don’t hurt me because I know they’re not true. I know she’s enough. What kills me is how she believes the naysayers of the world instead of her mama, the person who knows her best.”
‘I used to avoid social gatherings because I was so scared to be seen in a swimsuit. I would sit outside the pool, fully clothed, as my kids begged me to have fun with them.’: Woman urges ‘you are more than what you look like in a swimsuit’
“I missed out on so much. I missed out on moments I can never get back. Finally, I realized enough is enough. My kids, my family, my (true) friends absolutely DO NOT care how I look in a swimsuit, and I will bet you my next paycheck yours don’t either.”
‘My 5-year-old turned to me, suddenly serious. ‘You shouldn’t eat too much, Mom. Or you get fat like Christy and Tammy.’ I felt tears tickling my eyes.’: Mom urges ‘all bodies are valid’
“We sat down to watch another episode of Scooby-Doo. My daughter laughed as Scooby and Shaggy devoured a pile of hamburgers. ‘They ate too much!’ she giggled. Then she got serious. I felt tears tickling my eyes. Christy and Tammy are two of my friends. This is the curse that has been placed on me, on so many of us.”
‘I’d stepped out of a 5-minute shower. ‘What are those purple things, mama?’ Her question stopped me in my tracks.’: Mom says ‘you’d never be the mother you are today without each tear in your roadmap’
“They were always something I had tried to hide. I tried my best to explain them to her curious 5-year-old heart. Her big, wet hug let me know that although her age only equaled the number of fingers on her tiny hands, she understood.”
‘You are His masterpiece, beautiful girl. You can’t compete with an edited image of another girl. You’re already valuable.’: Mom says ‘your worth cannot be measured from the outside’
“When I delivered you in the hospital and saw your face for the very the first time, I was instantly in love with all of you. God gave you the exact color of eyes and hair on your head, and gifts and talents for a reason. Your worth and value can’t be measured from the outside.”
‘I wanted pretty boobies, whatever that meant. I was ‘large’ and gravity became my enemy.’: Woman urges ‘do what you need to in this life’ after breast augmentation
“I couldn’t wear the cute sundresses like my girlfriends. I couldn’t wear sexy lingerie or bikinis…they just sagged. Yeah, I said it…sagged. I made a decision that I wanted to get a boob job. I wanted ‘pretty’ boobies, whatever that meant.”
