She climbs out of bed, and walks straight over to the mirror. The somewhat mundane routine. The same old scrutiny, day in, day out.
Pinching and poking her face in an attempt to survey both old and new spots, scars, freckles, and wrinkles. Like unwelcome guests at a party, on her skin, on her body.
A little tighter here, and a little slimmer there, just a few adjustments and she'd feel better, she'd be happy.
Almost instinctively she reaches for the bag. The thick greasy liquid feels cold on her skin as she smears it onto her face. Still unsatisfied, she adds a little more until the mask looks complete.
The curls in her hair disappear one by one, as the straighteners sizzle on her damp hair, and the room becomes filled with smoke and a distinct burning smell.
She's running late because her hair took too long, and so, as always, breakfast is skipped. Although it doesn't matter. Like her boyfriend mentioned, she needs to lose a few pounds anyway.
This is the sad reality.
We are bombarded with society's notion of size 0, page 3, thigh gapped, 'perfect' images. But take away the photoshop, the makeup team, the hair stylists, and the professional designers, and you will realise that beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder.
And you are beautiful.
:) x
The topic on today's agenda is something I've wanted to write about for a while. I think I'll keep it short and sweet because there really isn't much to say.
I think as human beings, we sometimes overcomplicate the most simple of things, and then complain about how complex our lives are. (The irony!) Taking away these complexities, and the differences between us all, I believe that no matter where you're from, regardless of your race, skin colour, gender, class, and so on, one universal aspect of human existence, is that we all want to be 'happy'.
Happiness is something we seem to crave, something we pursue, and something we strive for.
When we enter a new relationship, get a new job, or move to another part of the country, we often ask ourselves 'Am I really happy?'
And of course, though it is something that unites us, happiness differs for each and every individual. What makes me happy, may make somebody else extremely unhappy! And vice versa. It's a subjective experience.
Nevertheless, recently I've found myself coming to the realisation, that myself, and many others, strive for happiness as if it's a destination. A destination that once we reach, is a state we will remain in forever.
And that's where we stumble and fall.
The beauty of life is its unpredictability. And while at any given moment you may feel sad, in despair, and hopeless, the fact that this could change in an instant, (since pain is only temporary), is pretty darn amazing!
I'm sorry to do this, but I'm going to quote a well known pop song. The lyric 'you only know you've been high when you're feeling low', exemplifies how we can only truly appreciate the happy times we have in our lives, by going through some of the worst times of all.
So to everyone out there who's having a bad day, remember that happiness is something only YOU can achieve for YOURSELF.
Don't continue making the mistake of waiting for happiness to arrive in your life, as if one day we'll wake up and it will have finally made a grand appearance, shouting 'I'm here!'
Unfortunately, that's just not how life works. So revel in the unpredictability and the uncertainty of life, in the days where you feel like things couldn't possibly get any worse, and you feel lower than ever, because at least that way, there is only one way to go.
:) x
