So this is me, completely bare-faced, no nothing not even moisturiser – not even brushed my eyebrows out. This is what I look like, me, raw. Now it’s taken me a while to love myself completely bare. I used to hate the scars on my face and body – I’ve got a lot, I have stretch marks, you can see the pictures, I’ve got flaws – we all do. So here’s the secret, it will be difficult but it can change your life:
Stop comparing yourself to other people!
I am me and others are them, I stay on my own path and push myself for myself. I’ve learnt now that your appearance is secondary, what I look like isn’t the be and end-all of life. What’s most important is how I make other people feel, my soul, who I am as a person. When I was younger, I absolutely detested the sight of my own body, which is so wild to me now. My body is mine and it contains me and sustains me. I put on a little cocoa butter and shine brighter than the sun. That was a bit extra but I reject the notion that I have to be wrinkle-free, blemish-free, made up (but not too made up) and all that other nonsense. I’ll admit though, it can be hard to ignore the beauty standards set by the media and march to your own drum. It took me years but it can be done – after a long process of digging deep and relishing in all the things that I love about myself, all of the negatives began to diminish and eventually I began to love the girl smiling back at me in the mirror, all those external things just began to matter less.
Teru xx