The Facebook Facade

Hello Ladies!

 

I've been trying to think of a way to segue into this post, but I'm not feeling that creative today. I'm just doing to say it... Being a girl is hard! If you have been a girl for longer than two seconds, you know that this is true. We are expected be nice, graceful, thin, keep a clean house, cook healthy meals every night, not let our hormones effect us, and have perfect hair on top of all that. And you know what? It is exhausting, not to mention unrealistic. And we all know how SUPER helpful society is (sarcasm) when it comes to our self esteem. I can't even go to the grocery store without seeing magazines with beautiful women plastered on the cover and thinking, "Am I supposed to look like that? Because if I am, I ain't even close." I judge myself against airbrushed versions of people who already work out four times a week and can afford to eat all organic, and yet I am surprised when I don't measure up! What kind of crap sense does that make?

 

As bad as comparing ourselves to celebrities can make us feel, I almost feel like this false reality we've created known as "Facebook" is almost worse. Think about it, 99% of pictures that people post of themselves are flattering pictures. I don't know about you, but if I'm going to post a picture of a new hair color or something I probably take 15+ pictures before I decide that one is good enough to post on the internet.  Do we post pictures of ourselves on a bad hair day? Heck no! Do we put up pictures of ourselves up with no makeup when our skin breaks out? Huh uh. Facebook allows us to only show what we want other people to see. Of course that girl whose page your stalking (don't lie, I know you do it too) looks gorgeous in every picture, she's not going to put up a cruddy one. And if someone else puts up a cruddy one of her, she's just going to untag herself anyway. Do not believe the Facebook Facade where everyone's life looks so much more perfect than yours, because they were probably just looking at your pictures and wishing they could look like you.

 

Listen honey: We are not Barbie dolls! We do not have to be pleasing to the eye every second of every day. I am not saying that you should look like a slob and stop bathing, I'm just saying that you need to cut yourself some slack. Going to the grocery store without eyeliner will not kill you, trust me. I am living proof :)

 

 

Remember, you are a masterpiece!

 

-Tara

 

(P.S. Thought you girls might enjoy this!)

 

 

Bangs are Good for the Soul

Ahoy there!
I know, I know, I'm super lazy and haven't posted in here in forever. Please forgive me. I'm forgiven? Sweet, moving on.

I thought that I should let you know that just because I have stopped posting on here doesn't mean that I am not still on my journey to self acceptance- it is a daily battle that God is helping me with. Recently, I have contemplated putting the verse, "For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7b) on my bathroom mirror so I remember to check myself while getting ready (anyone with an idea on how to accomplish this is a cute way, hit me up!)

I wanted to talk about something in my life that is kind of a small thing, yet a big thing for me at the same time. As most of you know, I have recently cut my bangs pretty short. They are called "pixie bangs" and I have always thought they were cute on other girls, but not something I ever thought I could pull off. Before, I had always had long bangs in attempt to hide my flaws. Acne was one of the main reasons, but also because I thought it would hide my large forehead and distract from my nose (which I am still trying to make peace with). I'm not sure what made me do it, but one morning I woke up and told Daniel that I was cutting my bangs off. And sweet Dannyboy, being quite used to me being a crazy person, simply said, "Ok. Sounds cute."

So with Daniel's approval, I made an appointment to have my bangs hacked off. I was empowered, or so I thought. When the day of the appointment came, I almost chickened out. I coulndn't do it. What if I got a breakout? How would I hide my skin on a bad day? What if nobody likes it? Then it hit me: who cares? So someone sees a zit on my face. So what? Does it change the fact that I am loved by the Creator of the universe? No, it does not. What if somebody says they don't like it? Big whoop, they'll get over it. I was not put on this earth to please people with my hair. So then and there, I made a promise to myself: I was going to be happy with myself whether people liked my hair or not. Even if I hated it, I was going to be ok. Nothing anybody said about it was going to change how I veiwed myself. Later that day, I sat that stylist's chair and watched my security blanket literally get cut away. I had nothing to hide behind, and it felt pretty stinkin good.

Turns out, I love my hair now and I wish I had done this a long time ago. Daniel likes it too, which is a good thing for him, because I don't plan on growing them out anytime soon. But as I suspected, not all of the feedback on my hair has been positive. I've had people ask me if it was an accident, or if I was going to grow them out as soon as possible. I've even had one person tell me to my face that they didnt like it, but you know what? It really doesn't bother me. Now, if someone told sixteen-year-old-me that they straight up thought my hair looked bad, I would have acted like it didn't bother me, then ran into my room sobbing like a three year old. But now, I can honestly say that I don't feel that way anymore. If you don't like the way I look, then feel free to look the other direction. God has given me a freedom that I've never had before, all through a silly haircut!

Thanks for reading, now go do something that scares you! You never know, it just might be awesome!
                            Much love,
                                             Tara