Confidently Different

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People can be heroes for all kinds of reasons. Some of the people I admire are people who embrace their physical appearance despite the comments and opinions of others.

I’m obviously not there yet, since after hearing things like:

“Oh my gosh...look how white you are compared to me.”

“Wow, I should have brought my sunglasses.”

“You’re so white, you look dead.”

...I decided I didn’t want to wear shorts anymore, and haven’t since my early twenties. (There are, thankfully, lightweight trouser options for summertime, but that’s a topic for another time!)

But there are people in the world who don’t let what others think of their appearance stop them. For example, in my twenties I remember noticing that a friend of mine (who will remain nameless, as I didn’t tell her about this blog post!) whose skin color was the same as mine. She confidently wore shorts during the summertime - almost unaware that people in society have opinions about certain shades of skin, and frequently look down on others (or themselves) for not being tan. She doesn’t know it, but she’s a hero of mine for this!

Someday, I hope to not care about what other people think. Until then, I’m happy to shine light (ha! no pun intended) on those who have fully embraced their physical features.

Angela Mary Vaz is another person who’s confidently owned her appearance. I came across Angela’s blog, Stray Curls, while working on building my work-from-home biz. Angela is a comic artist, illustrator, and blogger. While reading the Stray Curls origin story on her website, I was really impressed! She’s endured her own share of comments on her appearance while growing up, and now...she TOTALLY owns it!

Angela grew up with curly hair in a culture where most had straight hair. She endured some harsh, critical comments about her appearance, and whenever she felt sad, she would draw. Finally in adulthood, a turning point came after a particularly discouraging haircut appointment. To process the situation, she posted a drawing on social media about it...and got an overwhelming amount of positive responses from people who could identify!

That completely turned things around for her, and (long story short) she’s embraced her hair by creating the Stray Curls Blog. Folks, she’s owned her curly hair so much, she named her business after it! (Check out her blog and online shop here.)

When describing her journey, Angela says, “All my life, I’ve been bullied for having curly hair. It was only natural for me to hate my curls. But the day I embraced my curls, and learned to make peace with my hair, life rolled out differently. My curly hair has been my biggest inspiration for Stray Curls. Remember to embrace what makes you different.”

So, here’s to embracing our unique qualities! Maybe I can be like Angela Mary Vaz someday. And, who knows...maybe one day I’ll end up changing my website’s name to The Porcelain Proofreader.

(But don’t hold your breath...I’m not quite there yet!)

Need a little extra encouragement? Download your Affirmation Bookmark Bundle from my online gift shop here!