Bare Faced: I am brave and beautiful

1:49 PM

I am Brave and Beautiful – a beauty movement that is sweeping the globe. Colbie Caillat started it with her recent song and video called TRY. I came across this inspiring blog post today. I realized that other blogging buddies of mine where posting the same thing and I just had to know what it was all about. It couldn't have come at a more needed time for me. I was just feeling so inadequate this morning. Telling myself I have to do better, be more productive, be prettier. and be skinnier. That I am just not measuring up. The other moms in my new neighborhood just seem to have it all together and are so pretty with their cute outfits, cute clean houses and hair and makeup all done. I try and have a goal of just getting dressed before my kids get home, most days. I was telling myself "No one is going to want to get to know me just the way I am".

And just as I was planning all the ways I needed to change myself I came across this blog post stemming from a project at Brassy Apple calling for women to post pictures of themselves without makeup on. In an effort to spread the message that we are good enough and not to try so hard to be someone else's idea of who we should be.

Megan and her friend Cobi of Peacefrom6pieces have been the team behind this whole project. Their worldwide vision included creating their own video inspired by the song TRY. The talent of Robbins Creative made it possible for them to pull it off. You have to click play and see the beauty and bravery displayed.

Me along with 101+ other blogging women from different backgrounds, religions, ethnicities, ages, shapes and sizes have decided to be Brave and Beautiful! You can join in this movement too by sharing what you look like without makeup on. You don’t need a blog either! Just tag your photo with #IamBraveAndBeautiful on Instgram and search the hashtag to see who else has joined in. ALSO, if you tag it with a second hashtag – #ColbieTRY we just might be able to get Colbie Caillat’s attention since she was the inspiration behind it all!

Are you brave and beautiful? I am, here I go!

The photo I used is actually one I took a few weeks ago. I was playing with my four month old daughter on the floor being super goofy trying to get her to laugh when I suddenly wondered to myself what I look like to her. It was early in the morning and I was still sooooo tired. Not only did I have major bed head and no makeup on I was also still in my pajamas. I was definitely feeling like a hot mess. So out of curiosity I took out my phone and snapped a pic from my babies point of view and what I saw shocked me...

I saw a beautiful happy mommy. This is what my daughter sees when her mommy plays with her or comes to pick her out of her crib.

I thought I would see baggy eyes from lack of sleep, ugly blotchy skin with a rats nest of hair to match. But what stands out the most was the love radiating for my daughter. It blinds out everything else. What a lesson I learned in that moment. This is what matters, these moments. The love I get to share with my beautiful family makes me beautiful and I am good enough. Its so important we continue to remind ourselves where our real value lies and that being happy is productive and beautiful.

“Do you suppose it matters to our Heavenly Father whether your makeup, clothes, hair, and nails are perfect? Do you think your value to Him changes based on how many followers you have on Instagram or Pinterest? Do you think He wants you to worry or get depressed if someone unfriends or unfollows you on Facebook or Twitter? Do you think outward attractiveness, dress size, or popularity make the slightest difference to the one who created the universe? He loves you, not just for who you are this very day, but for the person of glory and light you have the potential and desire to become.” –President Uchtdorf

Don't stop here. Get clicking around - its a blog hop! Below are more brave and beautiful women bearing more than their natural beauty. They each have a little bit of their heart to share with you. Some get very personal. Some share stories. For some this was very hard to do yet they gathered their courage and did it anyway. We hope as you click around (and YES pin these different posts!) you will feel the importance of it, the empowering effect it has and that it encourages you in some way.

>>>>>>>Important info! Blog Hops often have glitches the first day. If the link has an ERROR, simply click on the HOME button for each site, or google the blog name next to the link, and you should see their brave and beautiful post there. Links will be updated as soon as possible.<<<<<<<<<<<<