i'm not a poet, but sometimes i'm as cheesy as one.

today is the day! {...or should i say, tonight is the night!} yeah, didn't think it would be this late.

today, i'm starting project 31 - a blog challenge issued by blogger mandy at she breathes deeply.  as a disclaimer, i'm normally not into blog challenges. . .at all.  it's always felt too much like a journal jar.  you know, pick a piece of paper to tell you what to write because you can't think of any thing yourself.  but when i started reading this project on love wins (a new favorite blogger), i was surprised.  it had a different feeling.  at first, i couldn't pinpoint what it was.  it was just different.  but the more i read, the more i loved it.  finally, i caught a glimpse of the vision:

this project is all about our individual beauty as women.  the exact challenge is "for 31 days, blog each day about things that celebrate your God-given beauty and the beauty of the women around you."

can you imagine if all the women in the world {or even half...even a fourth} started celebrating the beauty that God gave to them individually?  

personally, that thought was empowering.  some of the greatest plagues are caused by the warped view of beauty we hold, the definition fed to us by modern-day media, and our attempts to conform to those definitions.

not only am i eager to be a part of something so very good, i also think this is a great way to start off my own new blogging topic: loveme.  keeping this correct view of myself and women's beauty has been a struggle sometimes.  i'm going to start approaching some topics that {for me} are a little sensitive, and i feel project 31 will help give me the right perspective as i'm starting a new journey.

so. without more ado. . .

day one.

question: what does beauty mean to you?

i've had quite a journey with developing my own definition of beauty.  i plan to talk a little later on about my struggle with eating disorders, personal identity, and confidence in myself.  however, over time i've come to learn that beauty is something unique to each person.  and the whole beauty of humankind is {in short} each individual's unique identity.  

today, while i was running at the indoor track on campus {it's much too freezing cold to run anywhere but indoors, lately!} i saw a girl that was tall.  i mean, stepping casually over track hurdles tall.  she had the longest legs i've ever seen in my life!  and i thought wow, she's really beautiful...  then a few minutes later, i saw another girl whose head was quite a ways below my shoulder {and my height is very average}.  i thought, she's so pretty!  later tonight, as i was thinking about my run, i realized that it's very possible they could both look at the other wishing to have those long legs or that tiny body.  

but they were both beautiful.

okay, that's a bit of a tangent.  what i'd like to convey is that beauty {physical or otherwise} stems from our differences.  each unique talent and quirk.  long legs and little ones.

beauty is in meeting a goal, overcoming a stumbling block, finding faith in Christ, learning to trust ourselves and others.  beauty is the combination of talents that only together can accomplish the greatest things.  beauty is realizing that i am beautiful just the way i am.  not wanting alterations, but always striving for a little better.  beauty is found when we realize we are the agents over our own destiny - our own happiness.  beauty  is having the courage to claim that joy.

and really,

joy is what creates beauty.