A Fine Line

Similarly to droves of women, I have often struggled with my self confidence. Once I hit my pre-teen, awkward stage that almost everyone goes through, I became acutely aware of how I looked in comparison to the women around me. I've never really outgrown that - as a woman, do we ever? 

However, as I've gotten older, my confidence has grown. I feel like now, in my (gulp) late twenties, I've finally come into my own. Part of that is finding my footing and knowing what I want in life - sorting out priorities. Part of it has been marrying an incredibly loving, supportive man who makes me feel beautiful on my worst days. And part of it is finally being comfortable in my own skin. 

Now, something I struggle with is not letting self confidence slip into vanity. One of the reasons I had such a confidence issue as a kid is because I was frequently put down for caring about my appearance, like it was a shameful thing to care how I looked. I never want to be a vapid, self-absorbed, conceited woman, but I do want to be a confident woman. I feel like I sometimes skirt that fine line and posting photos of myself sometimes makes me feel like I am going to be perceived as that self-absorbed girl I never want to become.  

Exhibit A from my Instagram page. 

I was thrilled when I found this online community of women last year who crazily post photos of themselves and their outfits. This group of blogging and instagramming ladies who fearlessly take pictures of themselves every day and put themselves out there. I jumped in with gusto! It has been such a safe place for me - thankfully I haven't been the victim of anonymous hate, yet - and I've grown even more in my confidence in the past year. It has been amazing. I hope to be as supportive and uplifting to the other women as they've been to me. I also hope to keep myself in check and not slip into a fugue of self-abosrbstion and if I do - I expect my dear friends to lovingly slap me upside my head and bring me back down to earth.