To all of you who were looking forward to a detailed account of the month without makeup, I apologize that it never came. I have journal entries abound, but while trying to finish up my degree at WSU, I just haven't found the time to put the truly life changing experience into words to share with you.
In essence, it was an amazing time of self-discovery and character development. It was an opportunity to redirect my mind from my appearance and onto other things, to put it lightly. Today, I have the freedom to wear makeup or not. And it ain't no thang!
I want to share where my heart is right now and the things that seemed to come up since the no makeup challenge. I have been reading a thought provoking book, "Do You Think I'm Beautiful?" The following was something I wrote following a great time with my nose buried in this book.
“If we could somehow understand that there are no suffering exemptions for the living, maybe we would not give our minds over to such depths of worry and fear…There is no such thing as an insulated life. Even the woman that you think has it all together and seems to have every material blessing walks the same path you do—one fraught with twists and turns of heartache where she can be ambushed by the bully of suffering.”
The above was written by Angela Thomas in her book “Do You Think I’m Beautiful?” in which she invites every woman to peer into the most secret places of her heart and acknowledge she is dearly loved by the One who created her and calls her beautiful.
When I read this yesterday, I was awkwardly reminded and slightly ashamed of my own tendency to judge. By judgment, I do not necessarily imply a negative connotation of any sort. Rather, it is more of a general opinion based on first impression. Quite regularly I may see a person and, from superficial characteristics, automatically assume she has it all together.
I was awakened to the idea that beneath some Crest-whitened smiles is a suffering soul, wilting more with each lonely day. I was reminded that the prettiest faces and most fashion forward figures might only be a disguise to conceal a wounded spirit and starving heart.
To truly live is to experience the joys and blessings, the pains and sufferings. Whether we appear as if we have it all together or as if we were thrown under the bus, life hits hard. Today, take a moment to look past the surface, peer into the secret places.
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