More Than Meets the Eye

Growing up as a teenager in today's society, I often feel pressured to appear a certain way in order to feel "accepted." It's challenging to keep up with such pressures, especially with the multitude of other stress triggers, such as balancing school work, friendships and family. Too often, I find myself waking up in the morning focused on what I look like before going to school, rather than checking in with my mental health. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love clothing and fashion, but I do believe it is necessary to find a happy medium between focusing on physical appearance and emotional stability. 

Last year, I was fortunate enough to attend a religious retreat called "Kairos." This is a four day retreat, focused on developing friendships and spiritual relationships. Kairos is about furthering and bettering yourself by allowing you to share and develop connections with your peers in a more meaningful and enriching way than perhaps is possible with the multitude of distractions we have in our everyday lives. While on the retreat, I showered once, never applied make-up and wore clothes that most would not consider "stylish" or "aesthetically pleasing." In turn, I found myself happier. Without focusing on my appearance, I was able to focus more on important aspects of life, such as developing outstanding bonds with my peers and adults. 

Recently, I found a song by India.Arie called "Video" that I believe relates to this idea of appearance. My favorite lyric in this song is, "my worth is not determined by the price of my clothes." I believe that India.Arie does a wonderful job in this song challenging the societal pressures of appearance. She reminds us that beauty should not be determined simply by what we wear, but rather how we treat others and how we view ourselves. We're all beautiful in our own ways, and we need to embrace that beauty rather than conform to what society tries to dictate to us through media or other outlets.

As I write this post today, I find it interesting to notice how big of a role appearance plays in our lives and what I can do to change this so that emotional health and forming relationships with others outweighs aesthetics and appearance. I hope that through this blog, I am able to help my readers develop new perspectives on the role of appearance in our lives, and therefore challenge the societal pressures that come along with it. I would love to hear any feedback from my readers about the role appearance plays in your life, or just society in general.