Redefining my Beauty- Embracing Me

A couple weeks ago I sent my friends and family a text that said something like this:

Today I went to meet with my academic advisor and I'm graduating summer 2012 with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and a minor in Peace and Conflict Studies. I'm walking May 2012 :-) I'm so happy I will finally be done took me 9 years, 3 pregnancies and a lot of hard work. I'm ready to be a professional. Woo hoo. The advisor thought I was a weirdo cause my eyes filled with tears when he told me. Lol. Guess I'm finally gonna get my big party.

Sent from my iPhone

I wasn't surprised by the immediate response I got. I know I have good friends and family that love that I am doing well in life. I am really, really grateful for them. 

I've been contemplating a lot about what I am going to do and what path I should take from here. It's weird because I've been dreaming about going to law school for a long time. Lately, I am not so excited at the thought of law. I have developed this love for writing and researching in the past couple of years that I would like to put to use in journalism or graduate work in that field. I am looking into lots of schools, programs and I am working on beefing up my resume. I am really nervous but I am also confident about my talents. 

This week I've been thinking I need to get new head shots for my journalism resume. But suddenly I realized I hate taking pictures. Then I had to be realistic as to why: I love myself, and I have grown into a comfortable image of myself. I've gained weight in the last couple of years and I haven't quite gotten used to it. I think because I used to be a lot thinner I feel huge. 

I've tried convincing myself that I'm just tall and I've always been bigger than my friends, but I still have a hard time with it. Some people may read this and say, well why don't you work out, or stop eating so much... Lol. But honestly, I feel that I am healthy in eating and when I have time I exercise, it is not however my main priority. Maybe I should find some time to make it a priority. 

I started reading and listening to interviews with Beauty Redefined, an organization started by two Ph.D students from the University of Utah, Lindsay and Lexie Kite. They happen to be really cool ladies and I'm really happy to have met and talked to them. I made a short video of our interview:

After watching this again, I decided that I am going to continue being healthy and start making some tweaks to my exercise routine.  But in the end I am going to embrace my curvy beauty. I know it's not easy to redefine a standard of beauty that is constantly pounding at us from all mediums but I am going to start doing my best by committing to compliment my friends on their inner self, not just their weight, their hair or their makeup. 

Instead of saying, "oh wow you look like you've lost your baby weight fast", I can say, "oh wow you are such a good mom, I am happy to have your kids influence in our family's life," or compliment them on their breast feeding efforts or on surviving with such little sleep. 

Instead of noticing someone's clothes I can notice their smile, or the brightness in their eyes. 

I can replace comments like, "ughh, I look fat" with comments like, "I'm gonna go on a bike ride tonight :)"

Here are some other tips for women from Beauty Redefined: BeautyRedefined.Net

Being healthy doesn't just mean being skinny. 

Being healthy means being happy by nourishing our body and our soul.