PROJECT BEAUTY
ALL OF US ARE INFLUENCERS! We all have a voice and a story and can choose what to share. Today I want to share a different kind of photo shoot.
We often see and like the pretty and beautiful… the house, people, pets, vacation scenes and often they are edited to draw us in. Made brighter and more vivid or perfected.
I also feel like I am often part of this problem as well. I want to make you feel and look like it's your best day not a magazine cover, but it is a tricky world we live in with amazing images everywhere.
I often hear girls say how nervous they were to have senior photos made because they were afraid they would not look like their friends posts. I want to always encourage girls that they will look and feel amazing on their shoot, but it is so hard for all of us as women not to criticize ourselves.
It is not just Social Media. It is my own heart that wants to look good, wants to be accepted and even “liked” or “followed” because of my work or something I post.
SOOOOO I wanted to be involved in something bigger than pretty photos. These seniors are all so much more than an instagram post. They are complex and fun and sad and anxious and insecure and beautiful.
I feel like our vulnerability is often our greatest super power and we do not even know it.
I will be sharing these girls individual photos and quotes from what they shared with me. This was voluntary and they were willing to have photos done without makeup and to share some of their story with my followers.
I did not have social media when I was in high school and I would have crumbled under it. These girls have never not known it, but they are learning to live with it, rise above it, struggle through it, give it up at times and even enjoy it. They should all be commended because I know I would not have had the wisdom and grace that they all have.
Carson:
In our world, beauty is seen as comparative. “Beauty” is defined by an unrealistic standard of a girl’s appearance. I find it so disheartening that young girls of our generation look up to the girl with a “perfect” face or body before they look up to the girl with the kindest heart.
The Bible says that each of us was beautifully and wonderfully made. This is referring to our hearts, not just our outer beauty. God did not intend for our outer beauty to be compared to one another’s. He intended for us to share his goodness through a kind and gentle heart. I personally struggle with remembering this, as I’m sure most girls do in our society. So, I try to see beauty not as something I should be trying to achieve, but as something I already hold that can be shown through being kind to people, showing gratitude, being yourself, or doing what you love.
Abby:
To me, beauty has nothing to do with what you can see. What is fundamentally beautiful is compassion for yourself and those around you. That kind of beauty sets the heart on fire and takes over the world. It has everything to do with being unafraid of being yourself.
I think the problem in today’s day and age with beauty is that society does not look for beauty in all things. I’ve noticed that when I stop and look at the messiest moments, something beautiful always comes out of it, and it’s never impossible to see beauty in all things.
Comparison kills society’s definition of beauty. It twists it and makes you feel a certain way about how you should look or even act in some circumstances. Sometimes I have to tell myself to sit back, and not let anyone else’s beauty affect how I see my own.
“Admire someone’s beauty without questioning your own.”
Brooklyn:
To me beauty is being confident in my own skin despite beating myself down Over things I cannot control. Overtime I have recognized the attributes about me that feel less “feminine “ are some of the most radiant aspects of myself. today it’s very hard to feel beautiful because comparison is everywhere amongst us but I have learned that beauty is not a something to reach for on a physical level, but better yet it is something you feel inside of yourself once you are emotionally and spiritually content. True beauty shines through us when we truly believe we are God‘s masterpiece, no matter how many flaws we see, God made us each Beautiful in our own way.
Avery:
Beauty to me is being proud of who you are inside and out. Inner beauty to me is giving my best efforts to live selflessly and model my life after Christ. I believe when we have Christ in our life, God’s beauty naturally shines in us. Outwardly our appearance is a reflection of our journey through life. We all have our perfectly imperfect flaws like stretch marks, sunspots, and scars. Our bodies, especially in high school, often represent sports we participated in that had such a huge role during a pivotal time in our lives. As a child, I was always told that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. While this is true to some extent, beauty is also felt and not always seen. A person that feels beautiful often sees others through the same eyes as they see themselves, furthering the “beauty cycle.” When I feel beautiful, I see others in the same light.
0 Comments