I have never thought of myself as beautiful.My husband thinks I am. And my mother thought I was. But I have never thought of myself that way. When I look in a mirror, I see only flaws. My face is crooked - my nose is slightly crooked, my ears are crooked. I've always thought my eyes were too intense.
It's not that I believe that I am ugly. I just don't think that I am beautiful.
How is it then, that I believe that this child is beautiful?
When the truth is that she looks a lot like this child?
I didn't think my parents were ugly. I thought they were very attractive people. My mother always had her hair done and I rarely saw her without makeup. My father was a very handsome man.
In the face of my own child, I see my parents. The same serious eyes of my father (although she's got Moo's Mom's eye color) and I believe that she'll have dimples like my mother.
Why can I see the beauty in my child's face when the beauty I see is much of what I see in the mirror? How can I teach her to see her own beauty when I am unable to see my own?
Posts
Complement her as specificaly as you criticize her.
ReplyDeleteExample. Don't say. "You are so beautiful" Then "Do something about that nose!"
Do say "You have such thick shiny hair" 5 times for every "are you really going to wear that?"
Does it work? IDK Ask Katie.
We often love people in our life more than we love ourselves, or at least we forgive them for their imperfections. But we tend to punish ourselves for our own imperfections.
ReplyDeleteMy best advice (at least what I try to do) is spend MORE time looking at the parts of yourself you like and less time at the parts of yourself you don't.
Thank goodness my butt is attached to the other side of my body, and I don't have to look at it daily.
Eve ICLW!!!
Happy ICLW!
ReplyDeleteI love those pictures! Your entire family is beautiful with such warm and kind eyes. I love how we see ourselves anew when we have children.
Also, I couldn't help but laugh when you talked about baby jail. My daughter had one too, and was in it (an exersaucer) when I had to shower...she was NOT a fan!
Nice to meet you!
Carrie
I can totally relate to your post. I also tend to see the "crookedness" in myself but beauty in so many others.
ReplyDeleteICLW
Come on - all babies are beautiful. And that little one has a killer smile.
ReplyDeleteI was raised to be smart and funny and creative. No one ever brought beauty into the picture. Now that I'm older I find people who are smart, funny and creative to be beautiful. Not sure how that one worked out. I'd say your pic makes you look all three. And in my books - that's a beautiful thing.
Happy iclw!
I agree with smart, funny, and creative. If you are those things, you are beautiful, in my opinion. Your pics are great. I've known many pretty men who were dumber than dog s___. Bless their hot little hearts. (And buns.) ICLW
ReplyDeleteBeautiful mama, beautiful baby, beautiful grandparents!
ReplyDeleteICLW