We are what we make of ourselves

When I discovered this video I was touched by not only the cultural context but by the underlying meaning. Beauty is created by our actions. A warm heart and generous soul make for a more influential and moving person than a decorated face.

My hope is that this message hits home for the reasons that 1) you have the power to prove you are beautiful but also 2) because I believe that the discarding of baby girls in many cultures is a daily occurrence and should be a more talked about issue.

A Cover Model Makeover Isn't All It's Cracked Up To Be

This video is awesome. Check it out. Here are my favorite lines from it. 

“Once someone else has done your makeup, and someone else has done your hair, and someone else has directed the way your body looks, and then taken away your imperfections; then there’s not much left of who you really are.”

“I think we live in a really interesting time where we feel like we have to make people look to this standard that isn’t attainable for anybody.”

“Instead of looking at other things and trying to aspire to be something else, we should just be comfortable in who we are and try to be our best selves.”

“I think something that everyone should keep in mind is that it’s natural to be critical of yourself. It’s natural to be uncomfortable or awkward, but you just have to know that the ideal just doesn’t exist.”

Day 26

Happiness is just a lot more beautiful.

Day 25

When I was in high school, it would take me two hours to get ready for a dance.

This was the product of 20 minutes.

Was my night still wonderful and fun and everything it should have been? Yes.

So, yeah, it's been tested: you won't remember the flawless make up you were or were not wearing on the nights that are truly more about friendship and laughing and dancing and being free. I promise.

Day 24

This happiness has never felt more real.

Why Audrey Hepburn?

Audrey Hepburn.

Over the past few weeks, we've been asked multiple times why Audrey Hepburn was chosen as the source of inspiration for this challenge. 

Our answer to this has been quite simple: Audrey Hepburn represents a movement of self-empowerment. She is quite decidedly her own. She is smart, poised, and -- in a word -- fabulous.

So that's the cliche answer. 

But the reason why Audrey Hepburn is the perfect depiction of self-worth goes a lot deeper than that.

Audrey Hepburn was born in Belgium and, due to her parents' occupations, grew up under the harsh conditions set by the Holocaust; however, Audrey was a fighter. When little girls dreamed of becoming ballerinas for the twirling and soft lights, Miss Hepburn joined the ballet to raise money for the "Dutch Resistance."

And her life was not easy. During WWII, she was so malnourished that eating anything of substance was a foreign concept. Her body was the type of broken that makes our hearts ache... but, instead of letting that experience cripple her, she turned around and dedicated the rest of her life to helping UNICEF -- an organization whose opening line is "Donate to End the Preventable Deaths of Children."

Audrey Hepburn represents something quite beautiful -- and not one part of why she was chosen has anything to do with the way she looks.

"I believe in pink. I believe laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day. And I believe in miracles."

"As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands: one for helping yourself, the other for helping others."

"People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone."

Beautiful Isn't Necessarily Vain

This video is self explanatory. We usually see others as more beautiful than they see themselves, and others usually see us as more beautiful than we see ourselves. And that needs to change. The end.

...Except not. On the actual website (http://realbeautysketches.dove.us/) that this video comes from, there is a startling figure expressed. It states that only 4% of women around the world consider themselves to be beautiful. I see two problems with this:

1) The obvious: We are critical of ourselves and don't see what really is there. We are self-conscious of what we look like. We compare ourselves to an unrealistic standard. We don't always love ourselves the way we should. And the list goes on.

2) Society seems to tell us that it is wrong to actually consider ourselves beautiful. While we are being bombarded with artificial/superficial ways to live up to a standard of beauty, it is implied that if we were to come out and say "I am beautiful" we must be the person Carly Simon was singing about (if you don't know what I'm talking about, Google is now your best friend). That would be vanity. That would be arrogance. I call bull. There is a difference between having an opinion to the tune of "I am gorgeous and I am the most wonderful person on the planet and everyone should worship the way I look and I am above you because of what my face looks like" versus "I am beautiful because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I am kind and loving and happy. I love myself for the way I am, but am continuing to grow everyday." That is beauty. It's more than skin deep and I think it is okay to embrace it.

So, the next time someone asks you if you consider yourself beautiful, think about who you are as a whole and give them a proud "Yes. I am beautiful."

"When Do You Feel Most Beautiful?"

I wrote an entirely long blog tonight... until I found this. I don't want to even write anything more because this video deserves your entire attention.

In case they forget to tell you.

To the little girl in this movie I'm watching that is the best kind of innocent, and makes even the child-fearing people want to have kids:

I hope they didn't make you wear blue-tinted contacts, and that those stunning blue eyes of yours are just naturally you.

But if they did, I also hope you know that you're a type of lovely that no make-up could ever achieve. 

And I hope you don't fall into the same trap we have all found ourselves in at one point or another -- the trap when someone tells you how pretty you look in make-up and you unfortunately start to believe it and you just keep wearing more and more of it...

You see, the problem with that is that you, like so many of us, would spend the rest of your life trying to figure out just how much more you can be.

So stop. In case they forget to tell you, you are beautiful.

One Word

When I saw my sister a few weeks ago, I obsessed about her hombre-styled hair. And when I saw my classmate in her killer dress, I couldn't stop gushing about how great it was. And when I sat in the dining room with my sorority sisters before a dance, I kept commenting on how flawless everyone looked. And it's true: the women I surround myself with are stunning.

But it's not the dresses, the heels, or the hairstyles that make them that way.

I have two sisters: both equally powerful and intelligent (a path blazed by my mother). I'm in a sorority where women value "doing good" above everything else. I share my education with sharp-witted ladies who will one day become valuable contributors to the agricultural industry. I'm surrounded by the most beautiful, talented, amazing women every day and yet, when given the choice to comment on the things that actually matter, I fall back on the type of dresses they wear??

Tell me, when was the last time you were ever heart-wrenchingly inspired by someone's looks?

I think I may have gotten something backwards in my life... and the worst part is, because of the way that our society is conditioned, it would sound so uncomfortable to say anything other than: "You look beautiful." 

But why should it be that hard? 

It's one word. One word that stands in the way of an over-used, understated observation becoming an authentic, soul-piercing compliment. Look. 

I don't know about the rest of the world, but I am undeniably convinced that the women in my life deserve compliments more meaningful than the ones that fall in the temporary "looks" category.

The crazy thing is that the solution is so simple. It's a substitution and a declaration. It's transforming that observation about looks into a statement of personal worth. It's simply substituting the word "look" for "are." 

You are beautiful. You are fierce. You are stunning. 

Morning runs

While on my daily run (training for a 1/2 marathon) I hardly noticed I was running. The view that surrounded me was beyond amazing. Half way through I stopped and looked out at the ocean, pasture land, and wetlands that surrounded me and it was then that I realized how it was here in this spot that true beauty lay. There is so much more in this world than personal beauty. My appearance is hardly a thing to spend my time and energy on....here on this land I can do so much and be a part of maintaining the most stunning and natural landscape. This is a place where not only can I run and refresh my mind but this is where a variety of wildlife calls home, birds flock to for nesting, and sheep graze on the greenest grass around. At this moment I became so excited for the future career I plan to build around this haven.

Top 5 Reasons

Happy Sunday. 

I have uncovered the top five reasons to not wear make up. 

1) You feel less guilty about hitting the snooze button 4 or 5 times.

2) You can use the extra cash to buy chocolate.

3) When your friend asks you to go do something, it takes you only 2 seconds to decide and 2 more minutes to find the keys you inevitably lost and then.... you just go. 

4) You no longer wake up with the "zombie-effect" of smudged mascara and eye liner... & speaking of mascara, you can watch The Notebook and not feel bad about crying... & speaking of The Notebook, you can have a heart-stopping movie-like scene in the rain without having to worry about looking like a monster.

5) You find that people will say the most hauntingly beautiful things at the times you need them the most. For example... "They'll think you're beautiful because what makes you beautiful has nothing to do with your looks. What makes you beautiful goes far beyond that, and that doesn't change regardless if you are wearing make up or not."

Jokingly or not, I hope everyone takes the time to find these things out, to make your own list, and to find what's true for you.