Switched-On :: Blog

The recent magazine issue is about loving our flaws. I can probably name good dozen or so flaws about myself. Sometimes I hate the way I look and sometimes I like the way I look. When I hate the way I look, I look at other girls and wish I looked that pretty or that skinny. They have the body type I would love to have. I could have that body type if I wanted to but it would take a lot of exercising and patience. On good days, which is occasionally I like the way I look. I take advantage of that day and take beautiful pictures of myself. I just love it. Yes I do know that no one is perfect and everyone thinks they have flaws. But like the article said: “Loving those small quirks and variations are nothing to stress. Throw away those feelings of insecurity and start appreciating who you are. A positive self-image can entirely change one’s perspective on life and create a completely new experience.”

- Tatiana

Earlier this week, I wrote about how we should change how we see ourselves in order to be more confident in how we look. That sort of change had been a struggle for me when I was growing up, and from time to time it still is.

It’s hard to feel good about yourself when all your friends are complimented on how pretty they are, or how cute they are, while you’re just ignored or called ugly behind your back. People can be cruel without realizing they’re being like that, and it’s never easy to change how you look at yourself when 30 other people seem to disagree.

And it’s something I’m determined to overcome. I keep trying not to care, because I know that even if I were considered the most beautiful person in the world or something like that, I’d still feel bad about myself if I didn’t see myself at least in a similar way.

- Allyson

In a society built on hierarchy and rankings, whether it be the best schools or the most beautiful, we measure ourselves by comparison.

We measure how we look against the standards that fashion magazine editors, Hollywood casting directors, etc. consider beautiful, pretty, attractive. Essentially, these are imaginary standards to which only a few can adhere remotely closely.

When we fail to meet such standards in whatever way, our level of appreciation for our own physical characteristics are lowered, and are lowered still when others corroborate our views (or maybe the reverse happens). The worst point is when you cannot even face the mirror, disgusted at your own reflection.

Isn’t it ridiculous that so many of our insecurities root from this imaginary scale? Why let what one person’s, or even millions of people’s, often limited scope of beauty seep into our self-perception, and distort it then such that we cannot find ourselves comfortable with what we are, what we have been given?

It is by no means an easy task to remove from ourselves the constraints that society has placed on how people come to see us. But to overcome these limits, we begin with how we see ourselves. The mirror may be objective, a means of reflecting back to you exactly as you look, but how we interpret our own reflection is the only rigor worth conquering in coming to terms with what we have been dealt.

Change is only real, after all, when it comes from within.

- Allyson

This month the Switched-On article deals with breaking those bad habits. Almost everyone has some sort of bad habit that they would like to rid themselves of entirely. My bad habit is that I bite my nails constantly. When I’m bored, nervous, or feel like my nails look slightly off. It is a horrible habit that I have tried years to eliminate through various methods. Actually, the only method I have tried was wearing nail polish to make my nails taste really weird, but after a week, I got used to the taste of the nail polish. After what I thought should have been a foolproof method I pretty much gave up. The thing about breaking a bad habit is patience and commitment, but, unfortunately, those don’t come easy to people especially when they are trying to change something about themselves. I had given up on breaking my nail biting habit, but the New Year has inspired me to change. I hope that this time next year we will all accomplish this seemingly impossible act.

- Ruben