Day 77/366 days Towards Self-Mastery. Mood: feeling good!
All week we've been talking about authenticity, and today we've kind of changed tack. I'm not really into it to be honest. It doesn't feel that authentic to me on first glance. Maybe I've got that wrong. We're all different.
Lucky in the gene pool, I've never really had a problem with body image. Always enjoyed my various hair styles, loved my makeup and perfumes, stilettos and various designer goodies to adorn myself with, I've never really had to worry about what others thought of me from a body image perspective.
That's not reality for a lot of women. I am painfully aware of how excruciating it is for many women to get comfortable with the features of their physical make up.
The challenge for today is to focus on just one feature that you can make the most of.
Find one feature that you love about your appearance and figure out how to accentuate that feature.
It might be your eyes. Sarah suggests that you make them up each and every day even if you're working a gig from home or you're a home mum. If this is something that will support you to feel great about yourself then do it. Go wild with this idea.
For me, I'm more of an earth mother. My preference is for over-sized clothes, flat shoes and silver hair. Having always loved my makeup I am just about at a stage where I'm ready to give it up.
Lipstick is doing it to me. Bleeding lippy is infinitely worse than no lippy at all!
Big, baggy britches and wide, long midis or maxis are my favourites. A lot of my free time is spent poring over images of linen layers and baggy goodness on Pinterest. One day I'll have a wardrobe full of plus size comfort.
To that I want to add funky boots that end mid-calf, bright tights for a splash of colour to peek out between the boots and the outfit.
Silver hair has been a thing for me for about 10 years now and mostly I receive very complementary comments. Except from family of course, but there you go, you can't please everyone.
Totally have fun with your look. Wouldn't it be something if all women dressed in the style they love? Created their own unique look of colours, hem length, baubles, glasses and other accessories to express our unique and fabulous selves? How good would that be?
You are beautiful. We all are. It's not what's on the outside that counts, and you can dress it up anyway you darn well please.
366 days Towards Self-Mastery
When I considered my New Year's intentions for 2020 I had just one: To allow my heart to love what it loved...and let it lead me. (If not now, then when?)
I've spent months working on integrating my life. To live life more fully with my home life, my interests, my work, my responsibilities, all coming together, all connected. I want to give each the attention that they desire and need, and still have time and energy for the others. That means living and working from the heart.
As I was clearing out my bookshelf over the Christmas break I discovered Simple Abundance. I set it aside to explore it on New Year's Day as I lazed through another delicious day of nothingness. Sarah, the author, says this book is about living in grace. Living in grace I realised, is about Self-Mastery.
My thirst for understanding the human condition has driven me all my life, and hand-in-hand with self-mastery it has been a life-long goal. And seeing as I love to write, that living in grace is about self-mastery, and I love a bit of a challenge, then if I am truly going to let my heart lead, I really don't have any other choice. So scary as it feels, I'm starting out on a daily mission of leaning into the suggestions of this daybook and making a daily post to keep me accountable. If not now, then when?
I'm Josie. You can find out a little more about me here.
Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy: by Sarah Ban Breathnach.
This book is written for the Australian and NZ market because it refers to seasonal changes. It's available on Amazon here if you'd like to follow along.
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