Blog Post #13: Wear the Dress

We are not meant to look perfect all the time. In fact, for much of history, the only way we could see our reflections were in pools of water. I find it unfortunate that needing to look perfect all the time is so normalized, that beauty influencers with whole teams dedicated to maintaining their look have become the new “baseline” for beauty. In fact, beauty standards change every day, and achieving the beauty standard is an impossible task. 

I caught myself scrolling on social media this week, and as I went deeper and deeper into the “makeup routine” and “ootd”(outfit of the day) rabbit hole, I also found my self-confidence dropping by the second. How does every other girl seem to have flawless skin, how do they all wake up effortlessly beautiful? I had to take a step back. Someone else being beautiful doesn’t take away from my own individual beauty. Plus, just because someone looks a certain way doesn’t mean they are free from the struggles of self-comparison and needing to “keep up”. We all have acne sometimes, we all get greasy hair if we wait a day late to wash it. But moreover, my mother did not birth me to look like the “beauty standard”. To a mother, a daughter’s life is and should be a miracle in itself- a celebration of life. If I had a daughter, I’d want her to embrace her own unique traits and talents rather than trying to conform to the impossible mold society tries to create. If she had a passion for drawing and identifying mushrooms in the woods, I would want her to throw herself wholeheartedly in. If she had brown eyes, I’d want her to embrace those brown eyes instead of wishing for blue, or green, or silver. Sometimes it’s not a bad thing to try and see yourself through the lens of someone else. Even just a stranger who rides the bus at the same time as you, who unbeknownst to you, has always loved the way you style your clothes. Embrace the quirks and imperfections. If we were all meant to be the same, life would be boring. It’s your life, not theirs. And if you love the dress, wear it!