I have always, always, have been self-conscious about the way that I look. However, through the help of my friends, my sorority sisters, and encouraging individuals around me, I have learned that true beauty exists — and it is in all of us.
I started taking pictures when I was 15 years old and I have always tried to convey the message that all women are beautiful. I was always subjected to social media and magazines that showed perfect, photo-shopped faces and bodies that persuaded me to think that I was not perfect the way I was made. But they are wrong. I decided to take pictures of my sorority sisters to show the world that we don't need makeup to be beautiful, that we were made perfect the way that we are naturally.
I am beautiful--and so is everyone else. There have been so many people who have told me and others that "it is what's on the inside that counts" and this is true, but shouldn't we be accepting one another's outer beauty as well? Shouldn't everyone be considered beautiful, no matter what they look like?
Instead of accepting the look that the media shows us every day, it is important to first accept ourselves.
I took these pictures of my sorority sisters for many reasons. First, to show them that they are all beautiful, without makeup. Second, to encourage others to accept the way they look, and they way others look. We are all different. We are all beautiful. Acceptance starts the moment we begin to love ourselves.
Encouraging others is very important to me, and the second I realized that some of my close friends didn't find themselves beautiful, I started to think of ways to encourage them. I always thought that I was the only one who couldn't see beauty in myself, and the moment I started helping my friends see their true beauty, I started realizing that maybe I was beautiful too. It's funny how we think some people are so beautiful and perfect--and then we realize that they have the same exact insecurities that we might have.
I'm not perfect. I have bags under my eyes, I have spots on my face, my hair seems to never do exactly what I want it to, but I am a woman--and I am wonderfully made. I will probably always have times when I complain about the way I look, but I know that no matter what, my true beauty shines everywhere that I go.
"Love is louder than the pressure to be perfect." Love yourself. Accept yourself. Be yourself, always.
