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Senin, 14 November 2011

The I Am Project :: Be Yourself

* before today's i am, i just want to clarify that, though these beautiful statements and stories are all hosted on my blog, they are not all mine. the three of us contributing to the i am project have chosen to keep our i ams anonymous in the spirit of making the statements as relatable as possible, especially now that we're writing to each work of art. as much as i'd like to, i can't take credit for the amazing written and artistic talent you see each week!

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My whole life I have compared myself to others. Wanting what others had. I wanted their longer legs, thicker hair, not gapped teeth, and skinnier body. Basically whatever I could come up with. It wasn’t till I was older that I embraced the things about me that made me different from everyone else. I own the characteristics of my family and now I am pretty proud of what I got. I walk with confidence knowing that no one else is made quite like me. It’s kind of exciting to finally realize how incredibly unique I really am.

The I Am Project on Facebook || Etsy Shop

The I Am Project :: Our wish is to affirm and inspire the beauty in every woman, to celebrate the uniqueness in each of us, as well as the commonalities that unite us as women. We want to create a space to confront the dark places that come with growth; to witness women being valued for more than their bodies, clothes, or societal projections; to feel inspired by stories and images; and to become more deeply rooted in who we are as women. We want to become a net of resources that will nurture and fortify each other's confidence, and fill women with awareness of the extraordinary beauty that each of us uniquely brings to the world.

Questions, thoughts or feedback about The I Am Series? Send them to iamproject.us@gmail.com. We would love to hear from you!

We welcome you to repost and/or share these images if you wish! We also respectfully request that you credit and, preferably, link back to Because It's Awesome as you do so. It's easy to do, and it's good blogger practice. Many thanks!

Senin, 07 November 2011

The I Am Project :: I Am So Much More

When I look back at myself in my middle-school days, I cringe to think how I obsessed over what I looked like. Looking through an old diary reminds me of how huge my insecurities loomed over me; how I felt I could gain control over them by looking perfect.

A boy in my class told his friend, who told a friend, who told me (you know how middle school works) that he liked me (liked me liked me? yes, liked me liked me) because I was creative. This did not compute with my understanding of how the world worked, and I balked at his interest.

I didn’t want to be liked for being creative. I wanted to be liked for being beautiful.

Like, super-beautiful.

I wanted to be compared to everyone else and not be found different, but to be found better. I had seen that the best-loved girls around me were not wanted for aspects of their character. They were wanted because they had perfect skin, full bras, long legs. To me, happiness was any kind of validation that I could compete in that arena. To appease the deep hunger inside me, I donned my waterbra, straightened my hair for two hours a day, and threw my name in the ring.

I wish now that I could go back and withdraw from the race. To pile up the hours in front of the mirror with the straightener, the money spent on tanning and stupid trends, the thoughts I wasted on myself, and redirect all that energy into something noble.

Brennan Manning wrote, “Would that I had served my God the way I have watched my waistline!”

The sayings stenciled out on the neon posterboards at school were true: I am so much more than my face, my body, my clothes.

Beauty shines out of my heart, through my humor, through the way I treat people.

My grown-up self knows this. But that middle-school girl and her insecurities are still alive inside me, and I rather often need to put my arm around her, shake her to attention, and remind her:

The I Am Project on Facebook || Etsy Shop

Senin, 31 Oktober 2011

The I Am Project :: Everybody Likes You

happy monday, party people! hope you all had fabulous weekends. did you have exciting halloween plans? mine didn't include any halloween action, but it was pretty non-stop. i hope to be recapping several aspects of it this week. for now, yes, i am's are back! apologies for the gap. i feel like this week merits a bit of an explanation about the statement (which we actually intend to start doing more often).

it is safe to say that i have spent the majority of my life a stage 5 people pleaser. true with friendships, elders (of course), colleagues, and men i've been involved with. so much so that, in many instances, i've compromised my own wishes and opinions in order to remain as likeable as possible. it's taken years and years to overcome this deep desire to be liked. i wish i knew exactly where it came from. is that a trait you're born with or is it learned? at this point in my life - while i will always remain respectful, open-minded and professional - i'm constantly reminding myself that it's okay to take responsibility for what i need and what i want from my relationships. it's incredibly freeing to stand in your own convictions. i worry less about others' perceptions of me and more about living the way i want, knowing full and well that what i do and say will probably turn some people off. while it has never and probably will never be my intention to offend others, i'm more comfortable knowing that if it happens, it's a matter of clashing perspectives or personalities more so than something being wrong with who i am or what i want.

now i could do several posts on past relationships with men (errrr...boys, rather) as it relates to this topic, but we'll save that for another time. for now, i'll just say that it's okay to expect that you're never going to please everyone. so i say focus on the one that matters most. (that's you, btdubs.)

now, i obviously don't mean for this to be taken literally. if you're a generally likeable person, more power to you! just don't be willing to compromise yourself too much for others' sake.

The I Am Project on Facebook || Etsy Shop

Senin, 03 Oktober 2011

The I Am Project :: an announcement!

happy monday, party people! i have exciting news to share this morning . . . we have been totally thrilled and overwhelmed with the support of our I Am Project's weekly(ish) posts. the fact that this project has resonated with so many incredible women is beyond any of our wildest dreams! so much so that we have decided to make our pieces available for purchase.

enter our shiny new I Am Shop!

a thousand thank you's to each and every one of you that has embraced this project. it means so very much to us.

aaaaaand we are more than excited to have some very special ladies helping us kick off this virtual opening! throughout the week, i will be tweeting and facebooking (are those real words?) links to several friends of The Project that are hosting giveaways to score a free I Am print of your choice! these ladies have been kind enough to mention our little mission on their own blogs and, for that, we are humbled and most grateful. this morning, i will send you off to see these lovely ladies below . . .

Ready.

Set.

Go.