self-esteem

Obviously, now from my elder perch, I realize it’s best to not be judgy about beauty treatments.

Being Judgy About Beauty Treatments Was Just My Own Baggage

Obviously, now from my elder perch, I realize it’s best to withhold judgment, especially contempt for actions that bring personal joy at life stages you haven’t reached yet. (Though I’m still not married and get cranky that women are taking their husband’s last names more so than twenty years ago.)

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image credit: Mariah Aro Sharp @mightymooseart

I'm Not Pregnant, But I Look Like I Am 

I look pregnant. This body has made six humans. This belly has been inflated and collapsed and inflated and collapsed, and so on. What should it look like?

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Essentially, to change your world, you have to change yourself.

How To Create The Relationship Of Your Dreams

Have the post-holiday engagement "forever-alone" blues? Here's how to create the relationship of your dreams.

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Image Credit: Mcrfan343 - DeviantArt

How I Used Stephen King To Silence My Inner Critic

Everyone has their inner critic, the voice in your head that whispers all manner of terrible things:

You look fat in that outfit.

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"Hearing that you are pretty 'for someone in a wheelchair' is a compliment that leaves a bad aftertaste." Image: Thinkstock

Feeling Body-Positive When You Have A Disability

When you hear the buzzwords “body shame” or “body positivity,” it's common to think those phrases only apply to those who have a little extra junk in the trunk, but a huge demographic is excluded the conversation when it takes that cliché Christina Aguilera “We are Beautiful” turn.

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"Look, I know it sucks to be rejected — but is social acceptance worth sacrificing the things that separate you from everyone else?" Image: Thinkstock

Your Need To Be Liked May Be Holding You Back

We really want people to like us. It’s just human nature. You may say you don’t care if people like you, and on the surface, that may be true. However, there’s a part of you that understands that openly not caring about being liked immediately makes you more likable — self-assurance is an attractive quality to have.

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I don't think I had ever realized how important it is to me that my son be able to think for himself and be his own person. Image: Thinkstock.

What I Want My Son To Know About Being His Own Person

We live in a world where people are easily influenced. Heck, I'm a writer and influencer for a living, so I get this in its most extreme state. But when it comes to the nitty-gritty — the big life decisions — I want my son to have a strong head on his shoulders and do what he instinctively knows is right for him.

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"I spent quite a few of my preteen and early teen years enjoying taking pictures. But because of the combination of racism, fat antagonism, and lookism, I wasn’t always comfortable getting in front of the camera." Image: Thinkstock

The Right To Be Ugly: How Lookism Affects My Ability To Be Carefree

[W]hy must the acknowledgment of my beauty be predicated on how well and how often I contort to attempt to fit into some kind of ideal? Why can’t I be all the iterations of me and still be beautiful?

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