1. What are three of your best qualities?
Operating with an open mind/open heart. I am very adaptable I think it has lead me to many opportunities and positive changes. I've been told I'm a positive person, I think it's more external. Positivity is definitely something I practice but it can be more of a self preservation tool than anything else. I'm really loyal - once I've let someone in that is.
2. What are three of your worst qualities?
So many!! I can be extremely guarded. It takes me a long time to really feel like I know people, or they know me, but once I let people in I'm loyal as fuck. I can be careless, I get into angsty spirals, thinking myself in circles about things that I may be uncomfortable with. I get insecure and creepy when it comes to social media. There is a lot of stuff I'm working on, I always think I can improve things.
3. What is your favorite part about your body?
I love my scars. They have funny stories behind them and they are imperfect and I think it's really special how our bodies heal themselves.
4. What is one part of your body you wish you loved more?
I have really narrow hips. I think I have a pretty awkward looking body but I always try to remind myself that most people probably are feeling like that about their bodies and bodies are weird looking anyway. I'm grateful for my body over all it serves me well.
5. What experience did you have when you first noticed your stretch marks?
I got my stretch marks in middle school. I was a skinny kid and started gaining weight in middle school. I was super insecure about my body for a long time. Stretch marks to me were really negative. Middle school is a really awkward time
6. How do those around you make you feel about them?
I think a lot of us girls were feeling the same insecurities at that time. I remember being at the beach and seeing older girls who were so comfortable and confident and had a bunch of stretch marks and I thought they looked gorgeous marks and all. Their confidence made the stretch marks look good, and it made me see that if you are confident and happy you look beautiful.
7. Describe your journey with body acceptance...
Its been a long journey. As a teenager I had a lot of body dysmorphia, I thought all the time about losing weight and cared a lot about how much I weighed and where my fat lived and what my body looked like. I think I was 21 or 22 and weighed the most I've ever weighed in my life. One day I was looking at myself naked in the mirror and just accepted my body for what it was. I looked and thought how bodies are really fucking weird and just decided to be easy on myself. I've had a much more healthy relationship with my body sense then and I feel like were friends now and not enemies like when I was younger.
8.Do you practice self love as often as you want to?
Not as much as I want to but as much as I need to yeah. I try to incorporate little things in to my daily life to take care of myself. When I feel like my energy is too low or drained, I make sure to take care. Sometimes life doesn't allow you to do everything that you want to do all the time but we do our very best.
9. What are one of your qualities you wish shined brighter than your exterior appearance?
I've had people say to me "Oh I really thought you were gonna be a bitch but your so nice blah blah" I'm a fair person and kind hearted I wanna give good and get good. I think people assume I'm a bitch or I'm dumb because of how I look. Open mind and open heart is where I try to operate from. Also, I work hard. I hustle super hard.
10.What about self love are you continuing to work on?
I'm working through my anxiety all the time. I started getting anxiety after leaving home for college. It's the worst! So just being patient with myself about it. I think it runs in my family to so being as thoughtful as I can about the things that give me anxiety seems to help.
14. How do women need to improve interacting with each other?
I think there is room for all women to succeed and we should operate with each other in that way. We can build each other up without taking another woman's space. Healthy competition is one thing, but we don't always have to compete. Gossip is the worst that's something else I work on too, trying not to gossip that stuff is toxic.
15. What is something you wish you could have told yourself at your most fragile state?
Just because you feel like shit that doesnt mean you are shit how you feel is not a reflection of who you are.
11. What lessons do you hope to instill in your children about self-love and body acceptance?
I think all the time how weird bodies are that's a good message to me for kids cause they are weird and bodies are weird and that's cool!
12. In ten years, what do you want your stretch marks to remind you of?
Just growing up. I didn’t like going to high school, I never felt at home or accepted. I think we all go through our own struggles as teenagers, and so hope they symbolize that I did it. They are apart of life.
13. What makes you the happiest in the world?
Good love. from friends family lovers, getting a good dose of love, healthy love feels so good.
