For those who aren’t aware, Love U Magazine is a quarterly digital magazine that features body-positive fashion and women empowerment issues. Love U Magazine is made up of a team of international Contributing Writers and Photographers who are passionate about creating a magazine that inspires and uplifts its readers, which is not often associated with traditional industry norms.
Love U Magazine believes that ALL women are beautiful and beautifully made. They want to empower and encourage all women to embrace their beauty and embrace the communities and brands that acknowledge and celebrate all women-regardless of size, shape, or ethnicity. Their mission is to disrupt the industry by blurring the lines between magazines that only publish sample-size models and magazines that only publish plus-size models. Love U Magazine are also moving beyond traditional print distribution as they plan to incorporate a multi-media reading experience that integrates both video and audio into their publication.
I decided to write a piece on self love, something that would be relatable to ALL women in today’s society, of all generations. My aim was for my words to resonate within and in doing so encourage each and every woman to love themselves and really see their true beauty. Below is the piece I wrote for Love U Magazine, titled “The Beauty of Self Love”. Enjoy ❤
When you look at yourself in the mirror and I mean, REALLY look, what do you see? I’m not talking about a quick glance to make sure you look decent before going about your day. I’m talking about those times when you are home alone — no friends, no photographers, no makeup artists, no cameras are in sight. I am talking about those times you are either undressing from a long day or hopping out of the shower and wrapping your towel around your body — when you start over analyzing certain parts of your body from head to toe, in shame or disappointment.
If it isn’t pinching your tummy counting the amount of rolls you’ve gained, it’s wishing your boobs were as big as some of the women you come across on social media every day. If it’s not comparing your “imperfect” bum to those that are surgically enhanced, it’s wishing your pale skin was tanned, or the opposite, wishing your skin was lighter. And what about the face; when the defined nose contour has been removed with a makeup wipe exposing the wide shaped nose or when the layer of high coverage foundation has been completely removed, exposing only your acne prone skin and thin lips, less the overdrawn lipstick you wore just earlier that day.
Why do we always compare our facial features and bodies to those of other women? Why is it so hard for us women to see our true WORTH; I mean we are QUEENS after all. Every part of us is beautiful. Why seek compliments and acceptance from our friends, family, followers on social media, and of course, men? Why subject ourselves to be treated as objects by exposing our body parts, these days leaving less and less to the imagination. For what? To gain a thread full of thirsty comments from men admiring our “self-love”, when actually we are degrading ourselves and our bodies.
Yes, we all love to be complimented it makes us feel real good inside and gives us an instant confidence boost, but without self-love that feeling is only temporary. Without love for yourself you will remain in a constant battle against YOURSELF, fighting low self-esteem issues day-in and day-out but never succeeding. Every mistake you make, every goal you put in place and fail, every negative person around you, will keep you trapped without self-love. I speak from experience as I, like many others, have lived most of my life this way — not by choice, but from the negativity and trauma that used to surround me.
You must see the beauty within yourself inwardly and outwardly, in order to accept yourself and to be content. By doing this it will change your life COMPLETELY and the way you live daily. With self-love comes confidence. With confidence you will find that you’re no longer seeking validation from others, as it no longer of much importance to you. The time you once spent focusing on the negative, beating yourself, can now be spent putting goals into a plan and going after what you want — what IS important to you. Once you commit to accepting yourself and embarking on your self-love journey, you will discover that you are an unstoppable force who deserves all the world has to offer. And quite frankly, there’s nothing more beautiful than that!