I promised myself I would not blog tonight...because I need to go to bed early. Well screw it. I am sitting here in a mess of tears because I am absolutely beyond moved by all of your courageousness!
Wow wow wow wow WOW.
I have to admit that I am awe-struck on so many levels.
Some people whom I haven't heard from in years have written and sent pictures, even people that I don't even know! It lifts me up to see your faces - sent to me personally! I was also affected deeply at how beautiful every single picture was - and to be honest I didn't expect my reaction to be so profound. I was shattered to pieces 76 times over and over again throughout the past couple of days and I cannot even begin to express my gratitude for the affect you have all had on me and surely so many others.
I broke into tears with every new photo I got - even when I thought I was good to go - I would look into your eyes and I could see your big beautiful hearts blasting through the screen. I was also surprised and excited at some of you who told me you couldn't possibly do this for me - but somehow did anyway. Even when you told me off about it :)
Many of you wrote to me along with your photo about your experience, and on top of your naked beauty staring me in the face, your words have really impacted me. I heard the word "freeing" abundantly and that overjoyed me.
The fear a lot of you felt and decided to grab by the throat is inspiring! The confidence that some of you had immediately is equally inspiring and motivational. The questions some of you have asked yourselves and to me have opened up so much that I hadn't considered before.
I have to admit when I started this I had no idea that I would feel the way that I feel.
I had no idea that I would experience such intense impactful emotions.
I feel so connected to you all. Like we have gone into the dark together. You have all given new strength to so many women just by posting your pictures alone, never mind all that will come from this once I get it all finished and I want you to know that we have already started a movement. Change is imminent.
You have all left a huge imprint on my heart. All of you - whether you sent pictures or not. Those of you who have respectfully declined for your own personal reasons - I love your openness and honesty and what you have shared with me. It humbles me. Thank you for your courage to share your fears with me, I am honoured.
To express my reasons and passion behind this, always feels like it would take a book - and you know it might, but at the root of it all I really want to hand you all your power back, it's just been tucked away in your back pocket. I want you to look in the mirror and feel grateful and loving towards yourself.
I feel that we have an opportunity when we look in the mirror. We have the opportunity to see inside ourselves - past the bags, the dark circles, the pimples, the moles, freckles, scars, noses, lips, eyes, foreheads...the list is infinite - and really see ourselves. If we can start to shift from picking at or breaking ourselves down to building ourselves up, I sincerely believe that there will be no stopping us.
"When sleeping women wake, mountains move." Chinese Proverb.
If we are able to love ourselves, wholly and authentically I feel that we can better connect to our inner strength and purpose. From there, I feel that the love for one another will see no ends and start to spread vastly and widely.
I have often felt, over my life, that women are conditioned to be pitted against one another, gossip (even innocently), feel jealous, threatened, in competition with one another and are largely just misunderstood - instead of joining forces and thus prevented from becoming the strong intelligent creatures we are. All we really want is some love and support. But how can we do that for one another if we can't do it for ourselves? If we are self-fulfilled, if the cracks and voids are patched up, we will be able to poor out more to one another, building each other up.
I just want to reiterate from this morning that I am not blaming makeup to be the source of all evil. I know that it can be fun. What I am trying to drive home is that when you strip it all away, you are forced to dig deep, and you will find you are left with a pretty sparkly nugget that just needed a little shining and buffing. It takes practice. I felt naked, and bare - I couldn't hide that I was tired, or when I had a pimple I had to face it head on (pun intended) and reach in for something bigger than the bags or pimples. I had to smile brighter, and soon enough it wasn't just forced it was REAL.
A special friend of mine very honestly and lovingly said that when I first stopped wearing makeup - she was kind of like "Meh, ok um, good for you...?" She felt I looked better with makeup on - and I had to agree. But she said to me on Sunday night, after two months of not wearing any makeup, that something had changed. She said she was having a hard time understanding how someone's face can just get prettier on it's own? I have to admit I have noticed the same thing. Something has shifted and I really think that it's my heart. My heart is able to breath, it is shining brightly out of my eyes, my skin and my smile. It can't be contained! My real inner confidence has never been more authentic. I am so focused on being happy and loving and offering that to others that I haven't really been looking in the mirror for reasons to doubt myself. I know that I will find something to pick at, without a doubt. I don't think that will ever go away. I do know that when it sneaks up I quickly smile and say something truly nice about myself - "you are fun!", "I love you", "you are kind!" etc.
I have never really struggled with my complexion, or bags, or dark circles. My struggles have been more of a general nature - my belief has always been that I just didn't have that pop-out-at-you kind of pretty. I have never felt beautiful. I have always felt that I am boring looking, kind of a mediocre kinda-gal. I remember when I realized, after having conversation with a close guy friend in high school that I wasn't one of the "hot" girls, in fact he said "you are kinda fat..." that I was not even mediocre, I was perhaps more towards ugly. I am so glad for that conversation because if I hadn't gone into the deep depths of hating myself I don't think I could love myself as much as I do today.
The very best part of all this is that going into it I didn't have any expectations and I wasn't totally sure what I wanted to do if and when I got all these naked-faced photos. First of all I didn't think I would get even close to 100. I now know that it's huger than I ever could have dreamt or imagined.
We have moved mountains and we will move many more.
Thank you for being shiny little lights in my life. All of you, every single one of you. Beauty really is in the eye the beholder, and this beholder has been blown away by your stunningness. Loveliness comes from within. I think you are absolutely perfect and beautiful - with every inch of my being.
I wanted you all to see how moved I was so I took some pictures!
Thank you for getting naked with me.
With infinite amounts of LOVE and GRATITUDE - as my neighbour use to sing when I was 3, Grace, Grace with the Happy Face!
P.S. Do you think it's a coincidence that Grace rhymes with Face? And that you all got write "Naked Face for Grace?" I don't!
Nasmaste. The light in me, sees the light in you - because it's the same light!
Wow wow wow wow WOW.
I have to admit that I am awe-struck on so many levels.
Some people whom I haven't heard from in years have written and sent pictures, even people that I don't even know! It lifts me up to see your faces - sent to me personally! I was also affected deeply at how beautiful every single picture was - and to be honest I didn't expect my reaction to be so profound. I was shattered to pieces 76 times over and over again throughout the past couple of days and I cannot even begin to express my gratitude for the affect you have all had on me and surely so many others.
I broke into tears with every new photo I got - even when I thought I was good to go - I would look into your eyes and I could see your big beautiful hearts blasting through the screen. I was also surprised and excited at some of you who told me you couldn't possibly do this for me - but somehow did anyway. Even when you told me off about it :)
Many of you wrote to me along with your photo about your experience, and on top of your naked beauty staring me in the face, your words have really impacted me. I heard the word "freeing" abundantly and that overjoyed me.
The fear a lot of you felt and decided to grab by the throat is inspiring! The confidence that some of you had immediately is equally inspiring and motivational. The questions some of you have asked yourselves and to me have opened up so much that I hadn't considered before.
I have to admit when I started this I had no idea that I would feel the way that I feel.
I had no idea that I would experience such intense impactful emotions.
I feel so connected to you all. Like we have gone into the dark together. You have all given new strength to so many women just by posting your pictures alone, never mind all that will come from this once I get it all finished and I want you to know that we have already started a movement. Change is imminent.
You have all left a huge imprint on my heart. All of you - whether you sent pictures or not. Those of you who have respectfully declined for your own personal reasons - I love your openness and honesty and what you have shared with me. It humbles me. Thank you for your courage to share your fears with me, I am honoured.
To express my reasons and passion behind this, always feels like it would take a book - and you know it might, but at the root of it all I really want to hand you all your power back, it's just been tucked away in your back pocket. I want you to look in the mirror and feel grateful and loving towards yourself.
I feel that we have an opportunity when we look in the mirror. We have the opportunity to see inside ourselves - past the bags, the dark circles, the pimples, the moles, freckles, scars, noses, lips, eyes, foreheads...the list is infinite - and really see ourselves. If we can start to shift from picking at or breaking ourselves down to building ourselves up, I sincerely believe that there will be no stopping us.
"When sleeping women wake, mountains move." Chinese Proverb.
If we are able to love ourselves, wholly and authentically I feel that we can better connect to our inner strength and purpose. From there, I feel that the love for one another will see no ends and start to spread vastly and widely.
I have often felt, over my life, that women are conditioned to be pitted against one another, gossip (even innocently), feel jealous, threatened, in competition with one another and are largely just misunderstood - instead of joining forces and thus prevented from becoming the strong intelligent creatures we are. All we really want is some love and support. But how can we do that for one another if we can't do it for ourselves? If we are self-fulfilled, if the cracks and voids are patched up, we will be able to poor out more to one another, building each other up.
I just want to reiterate from this morning that I am not blaming makeup to be the source of all evil. I know that it can be fun. What I am trying to drive home is that when you strip it all away, you are forced to dig deep, and you will find you are left with a pretty sparkly nugget that just needed a little shining and buffing. It takes practice. I felt naked, and bare - I couldn't hide that I was tired, or when I had a pimple I had to face it head on (pun intended) and reach in for something bigger than the bags or pimples. I had to smile brighter, and soon enough it wasn't just forced it was REAL.
A special friend of mine very honestly and lovingly said that when I first stopped wearing makeup - she was kind of like "Meh, ok um, good for you...?" She felt I looked better with makeup on - and I had to agree. But she said to me on Sunday night, after two months of not wearing any makeup, that something had changed. She said she was having a hard time understanding how someone's face can just get prettier on it's own? I have to admit I have noticed the same thing. Something has shifted and I really think that it's my heart. My heart is able to breath, it is shining brightly out of my eyes, my skin and my smile. It can't be contained! My real inner confidence has never been more authentic. I am so focused on being happy and loving and offering that to others that I haven't really been looking in the mirror for reasons to doubt myself. I know that I will find something to pick at, without a doubt. I don't think that will ever go away. I do know that when it sneaks up I quickly smile and say something truly nice about myself - "you are fun!", "I love you", "you are kind!" etc.
I have never really struggled with my complexion, or bags, or dark circles. My struggles have been more of a general nature - my belief has always been that I just didn't have that pop-out-at-you kind of pretty. I have never felt beautiful. I have always felt that I am boring looking, kind of a mediocre kinda-gal. I remember when I realized, after having conversation with a close guy friend in high school that I wasn't one of the "hot" girls, in fact he said "you are kinda fat..." that I was not even mediocre, I was perhaps more towards ugly. I am so glad for that conversation because if I hadn't gone into the deep depths of hating myself I don't think I could love myself as much as I do today.
The very best part of all this is that going into it I didn't have any expectations and I wasn't totally sure what I wanted to do if and when I got all these naked-faced photos. First of all I didn't think I would get even close to 100. I now know that it's huger than I ever could have dreamt or imagined.
We have moved mountains and we will move many more.
Thank you for being shiny little lights in my life. All of you, every single one of you. Beauty really is in the eye the beholder, and this beholder has been blown away by your stunningness. Loveliness comes from within. I think you are absolutely perfect and beautiful - with every inch of my being.
I wanted you all to see how moved I was so I took some pictures!
Thank you for getting naked with me.
With infinite amounts of LOVE and GRATITUDE - as my neighbour use to sing when I was 3, Grace, Grace with the Happy Face!
P.S. Do you think it's a coincidence that Grace rhymes with Face? And that you all got write "Naked Face for Grace?" I don't!
Nasmaste. The light in me, sees the light in you - because it's the same light!
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