Let’s take a break from Donuts and Adventures, we need to talk about SELF LOVE!
Looking through Tumblr, like I usually do on my Sunday mornings, I came across a quote that stopped me in my tracks. Nanea Hoffman wrote, “Note to self: None of us are getting out of here alive, so please stop treating yourself like an afterthought. Eat the delicious food. Walk in the sunshine. Jump in the ocean. Say the truth that you’re carrying in your heart like hidden treasure. Be silly. Be kind. Be weird. There’s no time for anything else.” Those lines resonated with me so muc; it made me look at the world around me differently.
Living in Chicago there are so many different types of people everywhere I turn. One thing I have found that I really enjoy is observing people. I have noticed so many different things about how people interact, and have heard bits and pieces of many people’s lives. While observing, I have caught myself mostly listening to people my age. There is a theme amongst wat people talk about; themselves. In the last week I made it my mission to pay close attention to females my age and how they talked about themselves. I have to say, we have a major problem on our hands. When I look at others, I see that everyone is so different. We all have unique things we can offer to the world. What other people see, especially young woman, is so different from what I see. It is easy to see beauty from the outside, but so much harder to see it within ourselves.
In the past week I have heard people put themselves down at every part of the day. Like Lindsay Lohan said in Mean Girls, “I used to think there was just fat and skinny… but apparently, there’s lots of things that can be wrong on your body.”
Let’s go over a few things that I heard young ladies say about themselves in the last week. On the bus I heard a girl talking to her friend saying “I wish I had your legs, they are so tan and lean, mine are pale and fat.” On the ‘L I listened to a girl say to her boyfriend, “I already had a cupcake and a piece of pizza today so I really shouldn’t have anything else.” In the line for the elevator in Mundelein, I heard a girl whisper to her friend about how many calories were in her coffee and how she should have just gotten a water instead. Lastly, I can not stand on a pedestal and talk about how so many other females say negative things about themselves when I just complained to my boyfriend that “curly fries are going to turn me into a beached whale.”
Let’s stop right there. That is the problem. We need to stop spending our days wondering if every single calorie we intake is going to add fat on to our bodies. Here’s what I say: “EAT THE DAMN FRIES!!” Can we all stop criticizing ourselves for every single ingredient that we put in to our bodies and start focusing on things that make us happy? Food is necessary to survive. If you want to have a cupcake because you had a hard day, go for it! If you want to chow down on an arugula salad because you know it will make you feel awesome, eat it! There is so much more to human beings than what is on the outside. Do not get me wrong I think being healthy is how we truly love ourselves. Stressed out? Run! Frustrated? Squat! Happy? Take a walk to the beach! Whip something up that will make YOU feel good! But there is more to being happy on the outside, we have to be happy on the inside as well.
Let’s stop hating ourselves and start loving every inch, wrinkle, and roll we have. Tumblr got me again when I found a quote by Anne Lamott. She said, “Oh my God, what if you wake up some day, and you’re 65, or 75, and you never got your memoir or novel written; or you didn’t go swimming in warm pools and oceans all those years because your thighs were jiggley and you had a nice big comfortable tummy; and you were just so strung out on perfectionism and people-pleasing that you forgot to have big juicy creative life of imagination and radical silliness and staring off into space like when you were a kid? It’s going to break your heart. Don’t let this happen.”
Here is my advice: take a walk, eat a burrito, go to the beach, watch a movie, read a book, make a smoothie, ENJOY YOUR LIFE!
I asked a few of our own HerCamapus LUC ladies what they think beautiful means. This is what they said:
Christy Vargas, Co-President: “Being beautiful to me is being comfortable in your own skin and truly being genuine in your life. I think that being passionate for something is really inspiring, empowering, and beautiful. My friends and family help me love myself, along with Zumba classes!”
Maura Partridge, Marketing and Publicity Director: “Being beautiful means cultivating my integrity, fortitude, and intelligence and understanding my capabilities as a woman, beyond that of physical appearance. Being beautiful is inspiring others to be a better person simply by your presence.”
Hayley Accola, Social Media Director: “Something super beautiful to me is being comfortable in my own skin. When I take off my makeup at night I see who I truly am. I’m beautiful with or without makeup on, because either way, I still have my qualities…my passion, empathy, honesty, and my intelligence. My family has always taught me this, as well as my friends. I love taking care of my body and doing things that I know are good for me! Beauty is so much more than physical features and I wish more people saw it this way.”
The past few weeks have taught me a lot about my self and other people around me. I have concluded two things. First, we need to work on raising each other up instead of tearing each other down. Second, we need to stop spending so much time micro analyzing every detail of our life and actually start enjoying it! Go for a walk and look at the stars. Have a family dinner with all your best friends. Take a DIVY bike around our beautiful city. Stop at Sprinkles and grab yourself a cupcake! Most importantly LOVE YOURSELF and love this life!!