Natural

Today I looked like this. No hair products. No make-up. Nothing fancy. Au natural.

We live in a society where putting your eyebrows on before you walk out the door is a necessity, wearing makeup at the beach is normal and having "cute" gym clothes is a thing. For most people ages 12-30 our lives are focused on finding love in a world of likes, views and reposts. It's no wonder I feel this need to look like I'm doing ok when I'm not.

I have these days when I tear myself down. For a while I would have men that I was interested in validate that I was a good person, that I was beautiful and smart. It's been a while since I've gone on a date and I've had to turn to the one person I was hiding from, my harshest critic, myself.

Sometimes I forget what it is like to be beautiful on the inside without all the make-up and hair products and other girly things. I forget what makes me a reliable and strong individual. I forget that I can be confident without those extra beauty boosts. So today I didn't do anything special to my face or hair. I went to work in the morning. My day went on as normal. I was around my family. My day went on as normal. I went to the post office and a man called me beautiful so I said thank you and my day went as normal. I went to school. I did my work and guess what...my day went on as normal.

We spend so much money and time on hair and make-up and we don't even need it. It does make us feel beautiful but we have to remember that beauty shouldn't come from a can but from our minds and our hearts. We must be beautiful in our thoughts and actions because that is what matters the most and makes you...you.

Today I felt, beautiful. I honestly hope that you did too.

XOXO.