FLAWS: A transformation documentary.

       

    So I've decide to take my artistic abilities and put them to good use.... Not that I misuse them, I just usually use them for recreational purposes. 

    Lately I've been hearing a lot of "wow she's so beautiful" "she's perfection" "I wish looked like her" when speaking about celebrities. What many of us forget, is that, that is about ten pounds of makeup, heaven-sent lighting and hours of Photoshop editing. I am in no way saying these women are not beautiful, of course they are, with or without the touch-ups, but to compare yourself to these unattainable standards of beauty that you see on television, photos, magazines etc. is absolutely absurd, you'll only discourage yourself.

    For this reason, I've taken one of my not so flattering photos and created a mini transformation documentary titled "FLAWS". In this documentary, I am amateurly filming the process it takes to eliminate what some may find as "flaws" from one of my own photos. In actuality, blemishes, acne, sun spots, freckles, wrinkles and so on are just proof that we have lived. These things should be cherished, for they are what make up the beautiful being that is you.

   This video is to prove a point that if I, a high school student with no degree in graphic arts, can make such a transformation to a photo, imagine what someone with years of experience and the educational and professional tools can do in order to re-create the people society seems to idolize.

Here are a few things I want to clarity before you watch the video;

- This video is in no way, me portraying what I "wish" I looked like.

    I love myself. I've spent so many years figuring out how to love myself and have succeeded. I'm actually pretty happy I don't resemble the end result of the video because I am just fine the way I am. This is who I have learned to love. In the video, I am eliminating what people may perceive as flaws while I, on the other hand, see them as everything making someone even more worthy of a pencil stroke.

- No. I do not do this to my photos.

   This was a one time thing which took a couple of hours. If I took that much time to edit all my photos before I posted them, well that would just be a foolish waste of time. I did this for a purpose, to portray a message which was worth the time spent. 

   

   Love yourself just the way you are, find the beauty in what bothers you. Stop comparing yourself. I cannot emphasize that enough. If you constantly compare yourself to others, how will you ever expect to be satisfied with yourself? You are more than enough. You are beautiful.

Psalms 139:14 

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well."

Without further adieu, I present to you, FLAWS:

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Motivational Monday

  
    

    Many of you voted for this, however I am going to take this far beyond one post. I have decided to dedicate "Motivational Monday" as an uplifting series in which I will shower you with quotes, links to poetry, videos, music,uplifting photos and much more, every Monday. Just something to keep your spirits up. I'll incorporate tips and things I like to do to improve my mood and some of my own encouraging words. I hope you read and or listen to these messages and really take them to heart,finding a way to apply them to your everyday life.

Hope this helps keep someone going.

Enjoy.








"At some point you just have to let go of 

what 

you thought 

should happen and live in what is happening." 

- Unknown





"You can’t get much done in life if you only 

work on days when you feel good."

- Jerry West

"I’m definitely pro-selfie. I think that anybody who’s anti-selfie is really just a hater. Because, truthfully, why shouldn't people take pictures of themselves? When I’m on Instagram and I see that somebody took a picture of themselves, I’m like, ‘Thank you.’ I don’t need to see a picture of the sky, the trees, plants. There’s only one you. I could Google image search ‘the sky’ and I would probably see beautiful images to knock my socks off. But I can’t Google, you know, ‘What does my friend look like today?’ For you to be able to take a picture of yourself that you feel good enough about to share with the world – I think that’s a great thing."

Ezra Koenig being an angel

A Beautiful Poem by Michael Macalintal  At first it may sound  sorrowful, but really, listen to what he's saying. It's the humbleness of if all that makes it so beautiful. The fact that he doesn't even realize how beautiful he naturally is, therefore he apologizes for it when honestly, he should be thanked. It's people like that, we should cherish the most.
(CLICK HERE TO HEAR THE POEM)

“Friendship with oneself is all important, because without it one cannot be friends with anyone else in the world.”

— ― Eleanor Roosevelt

Although it may seem cheesy (no pizza), This song instantly improves my mood and just makes me want to get up and do a cha-cha!

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“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born, and the day you figure out why.”

—	Mark Twain

“Do not become a stranger to yourself by blending in with everyone else.”

—

Dodinsky

PLEASE don't give up on your dreams (This video really touched me, listen closely):
CLICK HERE FOR MOBILE VERSION OF VIDEO

“STOP comparing women.
We are not the same. 
Let our differences be the reason why we connect so beautifully.”

—	Individuality, Alex Elle

"THERE IS NO PASSION TO BE FOUND PLAYING SMALL - IN SETTLING FOR A LIFE THAT IS LESS THAN THE ONE YOU ARE CAPABLE OF LIVING."

Nelson Mandela

Music: 

Rend Collective - You are my Vision

CLICK HERE TO VIEW MOBILE VERSION OF VIDEO

Spend your time on those who love you unconditionally. Don’t waste it on those who only love you when the conditions are right for them."

- Unknown

"Remove yourself from the situation, change it, or accept it totally. If you want to take responsibility for your life, you must choose one of these three options, and you must choose now. Then accept the consequences. No excuses. No negativity. No psychic pollution. Keep your inner space clear."

Eckhart Tolle 

FACT: Smiling instantly Improves your mood. It sends a signal to the brain which automatically starts creating a chemical which causes happiness. So please, SMILE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. You'll be much happier that way.

CLICK HERE FOR MOBILE VERSIONS OF VIDEO

You are Wanted

Heavy does not mean hopeless: My fitness journey

                                      
   
     Girls(and even guys), we are beautiful no matter what our size. Today, I'm focusing in on all my curvy beauts. 

     
    One thing people get totally wrong is associating size with health. Just because you are on the slimmer side does not mean that you are healthy. There are those who eat nothing but junk foods and have a killer metabolism; which turns everything into energy and forgets that fat exists, but, that's a heart attack waiting to happen. Being on the pleasantly plump side of things does not connotate with unhealthiness. Some people are naturally curvaceous and have extra meat on their bones, which is perfectly fine, it's just more of you to love! I know personally, I probably eat less than half of what the slimmer females around me do and I'm still not model potential, which by the way, I'm perfectly fine with. I don't drink soda at all, no juice, no bread, I don't like meat, we don't have snacks, candy or sugary foods in the house and it's pretty much always been like that. "Then why are you not a size 0?" You may ask? Because for a long time, my metabolism decided to go on a vacation, but with constant activity over the summer I've managed to rev it up and lose 30 pounds, but I'll get into weight loss a little bit later. 

Here's a little bit about my journey in accepting my body:

    
    Let me start this out by saying that I am going to be completely honest with you, in minimal detail, in the next few paragraphs. I am in no way looking for your pity, your attention, sympathy or opinions. I am here to share my experiences with others, in order to let them know that they are not alone and that if I could learn to love myself, so can they. With that being said, here we go:  
    I've always been heavier and taller than the majority, until I hit high school. To be quite honest, when I look back, I really was not that heavy, but I was told constantly that I needed to lose weight from my family, my doctor, strangers and people at school, in not some of the nicest ways, which really didn't help the cause. In middle school I was about 120-130 pounds, while everyone else was about 90 but you have to take in consideration that I was about 5 inches taller than everyone else. I was also an emotional eater and had to deal with a lot back then, not just pertaining to weight (which I'll address in posts to come) up until the beginning of junior year. I've been called every name in the book, by "friends", strangers and even family. Last year, I was immensely stressed out, causing me to gain 30 pounds in about 5 months which is a very short amount of time to gain that much weight. I was unhappy with myself, overweight and full of absolutely no energy. Very rarely could the people around me detect the changes in my mood and behavior, I try not to let my problems hinder other people, but the people who lived with me noticed the drastic change. I was sporting a beer belly without the beer, sleeping way too much, highly irritable and highly unmotivated. I had always been on the heavier side but never had it actually affected my health until then. Little did I know, gaining that much weight in such a short amount of time was actually pretty dangerous. That was when i woke up and my metabolism floated on back from the deep jungles of Africa or wherever it was. That's when I started pushing myself to go to the gym, (which drastically improved my mood), changed my eating habits (primarily the fact that id come home, sleep all day and then eat all night)and changed my attitude towards myself and overall outlook on life. I stopped caring what everyone else thought of me and developed my own opinion. I started looking in the mirror more and giving myself complements. I went from "no one will ever love me" to "well maybe some day" to "you know what, I'm pretty cute" to " I love myself. I am beautiful and if my body is a barrier between me, and someone's ability to love me, then they were not for me in the first place. If someone can love me now they can love me later, at my best." I became genuinely happy when i stopped trying to please people and figured out what I wanted for myself,and took steps to attain that. 
So far, I've lost 30 pounds and I've taken a slight break from living at the gym because school occupies 99% of my time, but I'm still making sure I maintain my current weight until the summer, when I can focus in on working out again. I am again healthy now,and I'm still not a size zero. Quite frankly, nothing is wrong with being a size 0 but I don't think I ever want to nor will ever be. I'm naturally curvy and I LOVE IT. Yes, I am still choosing to lose more weight, but I'm still happy with who I am. I always say "I'm going to love the 'fat' until I can love the fit." What's the point in hating yourself? That's not going to change the way you look. However, loving yourself changes your perception of yourself, physically and mentally. Love yourself as you are now and work hard and keep loving yourself until you reach your preferred size. Someone once asked me, "What's the formula to happiness" and I replied with "A relationship with God, determination, positivity, confidence/Knowing your Self-worth and Doing what you love."

    If you're curvy and healthy, don't feel pressured to lose weight to fit the "norm", normal is boring. If dropping a couple pounds is what will make YOU happy, then by all means, go for it! I'll be right here cheering you on, every step of the way. If you need to lose weight for health reasons, don't view it as something forced and impossible, see it as a journey towards a new and improved you! Also, don't babysit the scale; It's a marathon, not a race. Even pound a week is still progress! Sometimes your body tones before it actually loses the weight, giving the illusion that you lost weight, but that's okay, at least you're seeing and feeling the change so you know all that sweat and sore muscles are worth it! I promise you, being sore is the best pain there is, it's the pain of champions.

    Your weight is just a number, your health is what matters. Someone who is 5'2" and 130 pounds will look drastically different than someone who is 5'8" and the same weight. Your weight does not determined your worth, happiness, beauty, success or how loveable you are. You and only you detriment those things. Beauty starts on the inside and works its way out. If you love yourself, people will catch on to that and will start loving you just the way you are; there is Nothing more beautiful than confidence and humbleness. 

" You've always been beautiful, now you're just choosing to be better, faster, fitter and stronger. Remember that."

~ Nathia