Growing up and discovering myself within a traditional and conservative home made me repressed and deny myself daily as part of the LGBTQIAP+ community for a long time.
Many times I ran away from mirrors and sometimes, I confess, I still do. I know there are many ways to take care of yourself, but one day, while taking a shower, I realized that I haven’t stopped to look at myself for a long time. Appreciating every part of my body exactly as it is now. To Hydrate the skin, to wash the hair calmly, take a deep breath, massage a little from the nape of the neck to the very beginning of the back, become aware that I am worthy of my own care, that what is inside here is what truly matters.
Yes, I have a lot that I would like to change. Today living in another country, 8000km from home and having new experiences, meeting new people and being freer, I can choose and embrace myself. Yes, I have marks on my soul that end up blurring my self-image and self-esteem a little, but for a moment, today, I manage to silence that and simply look at myself.
It’s really good to be able to wake up smiling, not because of someone or something that happened, but because you’re okay with yourself, defending yourself and, above all, loving yourself first.
I’m just one a big complexity, but something you and I have in common is that only we know the pains and delights of being what we are, as we are. There are days that are hard, tough and there are days when we decide to take pictures to be more of ourselves, more consistent with everything we feel.
But the truth is that it hurts to understand how you are, how you live, how you love, how you do it, how you remake it. But it will be worth it. Believe in what throbs in that chest and let’s go. We need people who choose to embrace what they are and all the possibilities that can be! It may not be easy – for me it wasn’t, sometimes it still isn’t –
Still, now I know, I’m starting to understand how amazing all the steps are to allow yourself to just be.
I’m learning here. Always learning.
