Happy Sunday Friends and Family,
I wrote the following blog post on a flight in 2019, when I was traveling back and forth between Washington State and California every week. The photos are from a 2018 road trip. There are a variety of reasons why I am just now publishing it on my blog. -HLJ
If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you know that I am always looking for an opportunity to spend time in union with God’s canvas: our beautiful, natural world. Last September, my son Nile was in the playoffs (they finished the season undefeated and WON the Washington State football championship! It was such an exciting time; and my boy started in every game. 2018 was a high school football Mom’s dream 🙂 !
When I learned we would have a long drive across Washington state to get to the game, I googled “top nature attractions” along the route. The Stone Henge at Maryhill was at the top of the list.
The Maryhill Stonehenge is a replica of England’s Stonehenge located in Maryhill, Washington. The description and photos looked super intriguing.
The stonehenge was 20-30 minutes off the highway, and it was worth the stop. The view was gorgeous, and the ancient remains were fascinating to walk around and learn about.
I have a confession. I was very unsure about including any photos of myself in this post. I’ve been sitting on these photos for almost a year.
This day, I was completely natural. No makeup, my hair was in a wash-n-go and I was physically heavier than I like to be (unfortunately, a five lb. weight gain looks like ten on me!).
Now, before you go telling me that I “don’t need any makeup” and “natural is beautiful,” please understand that I am speaking simply from a standpoint of my own, personal aesthetic preferences. I can look at someone else with the exact same hair style and think it looks amazing on THEM.
I just want to reiterate that I am writing and speaking exclusively about myself and revealing some of the insecurities that I struggle to keep at bay.
So, I decided to bite the bullet and ask Mike to snap a few pics of me. Despite my reservations, I had made a commitment to myself to make more of an effort to combine my love of blogging with my desire to commune more with nature, both in my external surroundings and in my appearance. So, I gathered my self-esteem together and decided to try and enjoy my wash-n-go. Mind you, I have only worn a wash-n-go a handful of times since going natural. I’m not gonna lie, I am still not a fan of the look. I have SO much shrinkage, I just don’t enjoy the appearance of having short hair.
Nonetheless, I wanted to share my journey towards self-love and acceptance. It’s important for women of color to experience the feeling of liberation that comes with embracing your God-given natural hair. I can’t wish that for others without sharing photos of my own journey, including looks that I am not crazy about. My complaint is not uncommon among naturalistas. The wash-n-go struggle is real!
What aspect of your looks do you struggle to embrace? Have you made any major changes to your appearance over the past few years in effort to improve your lifestyle or self-esteem? Drop me a comment below or on Instagram. I would love to hear from you.
XOXO,
Holly
