Hear! Hear! Preach it, Jenna! I catch myself about to complain about my wrinkles or grey hairs and realize those kinds of comments are feeding this culture of self-hatred. It is insane to resent looking my forty-two years, when every one of those years is a privilege and a gift. What do I want? The privilege of having lived without anything to show for it? I have been wanting to write a poem about this for the last month, so now I need to sit down and see if it can come together. I do not want to fight a war with myself everyday when I recognize that I look older. I want my inner self to rejoice at the outer signs of aging.
Yes!! Write the poem, I’d love to read it. I hear my mom and grandma complain about aging and it made me realize it’s really a life long trap because you’re always getting older. I’m not sure I know exactly what acceptance looks like but I know I’m trying it each day. Thank you for sharing.
Wow I love this piece! I agree it's a little complicated because I wonder where to draw the line. I have never dyed my hair and almost never wear makeup now that I'm a toddler Mom, but I did have some cosmetic work done on my teeth years ago because they were crooked my whole life, even after years of braces. I struggle with the fashion piece too, since I, like you, love clothes so much and always have.
I guess maybe you hit on this when you described the "heart posture" thing. Maybe the question we need to ask is whether were are trying to fight nature so we can look forever young, and whether we're dressing up because we love it or because we want to impress others.
You are an amazing writer. I'm 29 and shiver to think what I would have written about this topic at 23.
Kelly, thank you so much for this thoughtful comment. I sometimes feel silly being so young writing about these topics, so your comment there is really touching. I totally agree on the heart posture bit and trying to go against nature!! I totally get the dental work thing too. To me that feels different because there’s typically health challenges associated when our teeth are out of alignment, but alas. Thanks again for your kind words!❤️
Really insightful! I read somewhere a while back that in the past, we would change our clothing to fit whatever body type/shape was in fashion (e.g., padding added under dresses to emphasize hips, butt, whatever), but now we try to change our actual bodies to fit the clothing.
I’m old enough to remember when part of the Internet’s promise was to allow people to communicate more authentically, without the obstacles of appearance. Unfortunately, we still bring to online spaces the same fallen human nature, and the pressure to look a certain way has increased instead of decreased, especially for young women and girls, but also for everyone else. Thanks for your thoughtful words! May we all seek true beauty, of spirit and character, and be fooled by plastic facsimiles!
Oh wow such an important conversation, thanks for sharing! So much freedom in not being beholden to beauty standards and yet, so hard not to be drawn in. Praise God for my fixed worth in him, even on my most breakout-y days.
Jenna this was SO good! The conversation you're having here is so important, and I'm glad you're thinking and sharing so thoughtfully about it at age 23. You are wise and real! Thanks for taking the time to write this.
Well done, Jenna! May this message reverberate through your generation and beyond, setting many women free to be uniquely who the Lord made them to be!
Hear! Hear! Preach it, Jenna! I catch myself about to complain about my wrinkles or grey hairs and realize those kinds of comments are feeding this culture of self-hatred. It is insane to resent looking my forty-two years, when every one of those years is a privilege and a gift. What do I want? The privilege of having lived without anything to show for it? I have been wanting to write a poem about this for the last month, so now I need to sit down and see if it can come together. I do not want to fight a war with myself everyday when I recognize that I look older. I want my inner self to rejoice at the outer signs of aging.
Yes!! Write the poem, I’d love to read it. I hear my mom and grandma complain about aging and it made me realize it’s really a life long trap because you’re always getting older. I’m not sure I know exactly what acceptance looks like but I know I’m trying it each day. Thank you for sharing.
I REALLY want to rewrite the beauty narrative to include aging. What does acceptance look like? Such a good question.
Wow I love this piece! I agree it's a little complicated because I wonder where to draw the line. I have never dyed my hair and almost never wear makeup now that I'm a toddler Mom, but I did have some cosmetic work done on my teeth years ago because they were crooked my whole life, even after years of braces. I struggle with the fashion piece too, since I, like you, love clothes so much and always have.
I guess maybe you hit on this when you described the "heart posture" thing. Maybe the question we need to ask is whether were are trying to fight nature so we can look forever young, and whether we're dressing up because we love it or because we want to impress others.
You are an amazing writer. I'm 29 and shiver to think what I would have written about this topic at 23.
Kelly, thank you so much for this thoughtful comment. I sometimes feel silly being so young writing about these topics, so your comment there is really touching. I totally agree on the heart posture bit and trying to go against nature!! I totally get the dental work thing too. To me that feels different because there’s typically health challenges associated when our teeth are out of alignment, but alas. Thanks again for your kind words!❤️
Really insightful! I read somewhere a while back that in the past, we would change our clothing to fit whatever body type/shape was in fashion (e.g., padding added under dresses to emphasize hips, butt, whatever), but now we try to change our actual bodies to fit the clothing.
I’m old enough to remember when part of the Internet’s promise was to allow people to communicate more authentically, without the obstacles of appearance. Unfortunately, we still bring to online spaces the same fallen human nature, and the pressure to look a certain way has increased instead of decreased, especially for young women and girls, but also for everyone else. Thanks for your thoughtful words! May we all seek true beauty, of spirit and character, and be fooled by plastic facsimiles!
Such a great observation about us changing our bodies to fit into our clothes. Thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts ❤️
Oh wow such an important conversation, thanks for sharing! So much freedom in not being beholden to beauty standards and yet, so hard not to be drawn in. Praise God for my fixed worth in him, even on my most breakout-y days.
Amen to that, friend.
Jenna this was SO good! The conversation you're having here is so important, and I'm glad you're thinking and sharing so thoughtfully about it at age 23. You are wise and real! Thanks for taking the time to write this.
Thank you for your kind words, Grace!!!!
Well done, Jenna! May this message reverberate through your generation and beyond, setting many women free to be uniquely who the Lord made them to be!
Thanks dad :)
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Thank you!