Love of Yourself Selfie

Yesterday, while I was on Facebook I noticed a neat trend happening. Women on my friends list were nominating others to post 'selfies' of themselves with no make up on, and then sharing with their friends. The idea is to nominate several friends to take a picture of themselves make up-less to support women feeling beautiful in the their own skin. Calling it  the "Love of Yourself Selfie."

Dove is calling 2014 'The Year of the Selfie Love'. Helping us redefine beauty and self image.

I absolutely LOVE this idea. Only once in a blue moon do I wear make up. Usually it's for Halloween to go with a costume. So for me, this photo comes very easily. I'm all about the natural look. Saves on time, money, and I don't have to apply those chemicals to my sensitive skin. What was a challenge for me up until a few years ago was self love. For the longest while I had no self love at all. That's a sad way to live. I remember in the summer of 2008, I was sat in a group circle with other people who struggled with Eating Disorders. We went around in a circle and had to say one thing we liked about ourselves. I had nothing. At first I was very cold and distant about it all, but then sadness took over. There was not one thing about myself that I loved. As I began to explore this concept of self love, I felt guilty. I felt like I was doing something wrong by telling myself I was ok. I was enough. How warped is that? That many of us, women and men, feel that it is wrong to love ourselves. It was incredibly awkward at first. Forced. With practice it became slightly easier. Now I thank my body for all that it does for me, daily. I love this vessel that provides me with the opportunity to paint, to laugh, to dance, to see.

Self love is a beautiful feeling. It is liberating. It's refreshing.

This is where the challenge comes in. Meet Larissa. She is my baby sister. She just launched her YouTube channel  where she posts make up tutorial videos. The girl has some incredible talent when it comes to this art.  I shared my discovery with her and hoped she would like the idea. She wasn't too sure at first.
I expressed all my very valid and reasonable points for doing this in such a confident way. The next few messages she replied with broke my heart. There was so much fear. Sadness. I saw reflections of a younger me in her words. She asked me not to be mad at her for not wanting to do this. I felt so much guilt. I hope she doesn't think I'm trying to change her. I wasn't mad. I was disappointed that we allowed ourselves, our sisters, our daughters, to exist in a world where we feel we are not enough in our natural state of being. That we are worried that others will think less of us because of how we look. I was devastated that my sister feels this way.

A few minutes later, she sent me this:

My name is Larissa and this is the first ever photo without makeup that has ever been posted publicly for everyone to see. Ever since the age of 12 I loved to experiment with makeup, but I can say without a doubt I never have left the house without makeup on whether it was to go to the mall or the grocery store. I like to take pride in how I look and I love to get ready every morning, but on the other hand I most of the time feel uncomfortable being seen without makeup. My sister, Sadie has brought to my attention that Dove is starting a trend of Love Yourself Selfies, in which women are encouraged to embrace their natural beauty by taking a picture without makeup. Hesitant at first, since it is rare for the public to see my naked face, I decided to take my own selfie. Not only to prove to myself that I don’t need makeup, but for all the other women in the world that are in need of encouraging and positive words. We are all beautiful in different ways and it is our unique differences that help redefine what true beauty really means. Whether you hate your nose, your thighs, or your feet, remember there is only ONE you that knows how to rock those features best. This is a big day for me and I hope like my sister Sadie, I have inspired some of you to feel beautiful and confident just the way you are.

I feel into hysterics crying when I read this and saw this photo. This is the most beautiful I have ever seen my sister. I had goosebumps. She wrote back to me:

Thank you sis for bringing this to my attention. I'm smiling so big right now I'm so proud....I'm so happy I did this and I hope I'll help others...this is totally liberating wow!

So to all of our amigos our there, girls and boys, we nominate you to share your natural beauty. No matter how you identify yourself, share some selfie love and show the world your natural beauty! When you fill yourself with the light of self love, you radiate this beauty to the world.  Keep shining amigos!

Much Love!

Worthy of a Happy Dance

*dances around Spidey Cave*

Ahhh!! Now THAT felt good!!

So I'm down here in the Spidey Cave completely lost in a world of colour and chaos. The creative bug bite me today and it feels so good to be back at the paints again. So I'm taking a break and I sign into my blog to check and see what other blogs I'm following are saying today, and I spied with my little eye that I started blogging a month ago today! I think I sat up a little taller in that moment..that's some serious dedication. I'm terrible for being a firecracker when something starts and then quickly turning into a total flop. That's terrible that I just admitted that to the entire world....however...YAY me! I'm changing this through my blog, and a few other things since moving. Totally deserving of a happy dance don't you think?

And the Exciting Train doesn't stop here folks. All aboard the exciting train! I sold a painting the first day of the art show! Holy crap. I was not in a million years expecting that. I nearly fell through the floor when the moment of 'yes this is really happening' occurred. Mega exciting! (see a theme here hehe). And now I'm down here in the cave painting away  at a new collection I just started. I'm really looking forward to seeing where this collection takes me, it's always an adventure.

Continuing on with awesome news, Beth and I just finished creating a Facebook page for Your Place, the gym she owns and operates. Thank you to all the good sports who let me take their photos while they were working out!! To the ladies in EZ-Step and Pilates with Beth today, I will hopefully have them all edited and at the gym waiting for you to see tomorrow, and over the next few days.

Ok, I saved the best for last. This one is going to knock the socks right clean off ya! Yesterday, though filled with fabulous news, was also a personally challenging day for me. I have been weighing out the pros and cons of a very serious decision for a few weeks now. It sucked. Honestly. No matter which option I went with, I would be loosing something of great importance. I think I made the right one, because it is the hardest, and well...'you know what they say'. So as I sat rocking Owen in the chair by the fireplace (he's sick, and it was a great opportunity to snuggle the little tater tot), Beth and I were talking about the decision I made and ...are you ready for this? She is going home next week for a business trip and she offered to bring one of my cats back if it would help me any. *this is where my heart melted and I had to try to not cry uncontrollably like the crazy cat lady for being so happy..keep it cool* Ok...seriously how incredibly amazing and thoughtful is that?

I have three cats.

So you must be wondering how did I make my decision?

Well, I chose Zephyr. I was talking to Beth and when I started to talk about Zephyr the tears just came a flooding. He has diabetes and we don't know how old he is. I took him into my home in 2009 thanks to the generous help of my friends who donated money to cover the majority of the vet expenses becuase my heart is wayy bigger than my wallet. So the thought of anything happening to him while I'm away and not being there with him just about kills me. I think that's just about the point where she offered to let me have a cat here maybe...lol...I swear that was not my intention at all. Scouts honour! For those of you who know me any bit at all are probably shocked I never said Demetri without hesitation. He's my baby, he was my first cat, and he's my b'y. I should never pick favorites...but you know...Anderson Cooper had a show about that the other day, that parents actually do pick favorites..or 'tend to lean towards one child more than the other(s)'. and that's all I'm saying about that. haha. And of course I could never pry Shemar from his daddy even if I tried! So Zephyr it is. And I cannot wait to sook the face right clean off that handsome little man.

(left-right) Zephyr, Shemar, Demetri

So yeah..that's what I gotta say today. Hope you all experienced a moment where you felt this kinda happy today,and if it was a mega poopy day then try to create yourself a happy one tomorrow!