Spreading our Wings

For this week's Freebie Friday, I wanted to explore a subject close to my heart ... that of overcoming our fears and forging ahead. You might ask ... what does this have to do with beauty?

Well, quite a lot, I think. Have you ever seen someone who cannot look you in the eye, who is a little hunched over into themselves, or perhaps who denigrates themselves by making excuses or apologies for either their looks or their actions? Do they seem beautiful to you at the time? Probably not. It is definitely difficult to see beauty in a person who has no confidence.

Likewise, I have always had a very difficult time seeing beauty in a person who tears others down in order to make themselves feel better about themselves. They might have beautiful features, but their attitude is not beautiful and it shows in every negative word or vibe that they radiate.

In either instance, the person is obviously not comfortable with her true self. She does not appreciate or see the beauty she has inside and therefore either tears herself or others up ... and in the process her true self cannot shine through. That is so incredibly sad to me.

The fact is ... we need to find the courage to see inside ourselves, to see our real selves, and to love her.

I love a quote by Oprah Winfrey that says:

I was once afraid of people saying, “Who does she think she is?” Now I have the courage to stand and say, “This is who I am.”

Isn't that a wonderful quote? But I think it's almost putting the cart before the horse. How do we even get to the point where we worry about someone saying "who does she think she is?"

We have to decide that we are going to fly and spread our wings. That's the first step. Have you ever watched butterflies? I have several beautiful and large lavender bushes in my yard, which I love to watch everyday. They attract beautiful little white butterflies (at least I think they're butterflies, I'm definitely not an expert). I love to watch them flitter and fly their delicate individual dance. They seem so free, light, and have such grace and beauty as they flit from one lavender stalk to the next.

They are free, light, carefree, and going about the business of their lives as they were intended to do. I believe that is how we should live. Living without fear, living without the weight of the world on our shoulders, living with a joie de vivre, going about our lives with the purpose that we are here for. I believe that each person has a beautiful purpose, that only he or she can know. It is inside of you and you were born with that specific purpose. However, you, and only you, can have the courage to look inside, see that purpose, and find the courage to live passionately and to the fullest and not let fear keep you from doing it.

When you do that, once again, and I can never say this enough ... the very unique beauty that is yours will shine through.

So, why do we not do this? I believe it is because we think we have to be the perfect person that others think or perceive us to be. here's another quote that I love:

"The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself." ~ Anna Quindlen

So, mes amies ... that is my challenge to you (and myself) this week. Take some time, just for you, to look inside your heart and see the "real" you. What is holding you back from being that person? What can you do to release those fears? Contemplate on if you could ... then you would ...

In other words take the time to figure out that if you spread your wings, where would you fly? What would your carefree dance look like? Where would you flitter with grace and beauty? We can't know how to get where we want to be, if we don't know where we are going.

And, to give you a reminder of this challenge, I have created a wonderful quote by Vincent Van Gogh that I hope you will enjoy. All you need to do is click on the picture below to see the full size, and then right click to save to your computer.

Please feel free to print it out and display it to remind you. Or, you can use it as a desktop wallpaper to remind you of your challenge this week. All I ask is that you not mass distribute or use for any personal gain. You may, however, send any and everyone to my website for them to download their own personal copy.

So, au revoir, mes amies. Spread your wings and fly!!

Bisou Bisou,

Lorraine

P.S. Thanks to the Graphics Fairy for use of the Swallow Print.

Perfectly Imperfect

Well, Mes Amies,

It's time to face the fire and make a big confession:

I AM NOT PERFECT.

There, I've said it. Now, I can rest easy knowing that you know I am not perfect, nor will I ever be.

I just wish the small person inside my head would get the drift.

I had every intention of getting all of my jewelry listed in my Etsy store oh, say, last Friday. However, as much as you want to do some things, sometimes the reality is just not, well, realistic. And that's another theme that runs through my life ... setting unrealistic expectations of myself. I have to admit, I do this in every arena of my life. Unrealistic expectations of where my weight should be, what my fitness level should be, what my home should look like, what I should look like, what I should get done in a day ... the list goes on and on.

So, What does this have to do with beauty? A lot I think. How can we ever see the beauty around us, inside us, and even our own external beauty if we are constantly having unrealistic expectations? It just isn't possible.

Last month, my husband and I went to Las Vegas for a little R&R (rest and relaxation). I was pretty apprehensive about getting out of my swimsuit cover-up and getting into the pool. I felt like the largest person there. Especially when I saw all of these very scantily clad women sauntering around, as though they had all the confidence in the world, because their bodies were "perfect." And when I say perfect, I can honestly say that most of the perfect ones were artificially created!

I shared my hesitation with my husband, and he stated, with his wisdom "don't you think that every person here is probably self-conscious about their bodies? Even the women who look "perfect" are comparing themselves to someone else and finding something lacking." That was an aha moment for me. Why should I allow others to determine if I bake in the Las Vegas sun, or enjoy a swim.

So, I gathered my courage up, took off my cover-up and went into the pool. And there, I saw a bunch of women who were much larger than me, and, to be quite honest, too large to be in bikinis, but they had the guts to do it, so I have to give them kudos for that.

In other words, my fears were real, but not reality.

So, with this in mind. I will be continuing my give-away until this Friday (July 6th, 2012) at 12:00 midnight, U.S. Eastern time. This will allow me plenty of time to continue to upload my jewelry, and plenty of time for you to decide which one you would like as your freebie. And, since I didn't hand out my Freebie Friday printable, I'm sharing one with you today as an apology for my not being perfect.

The printable I've created will also be posted to the Monday Brag submission over at the Graphics Fairy (her link is over to the left in my blog list). I've used one of her free vintage backgrounds as a starting point for my printable. And, in light of this post, I found a wonderful quote by Salma Hayek, who I think is pretty much considered to be one of the most beautiful women in the world. I hope you enjoy her insight as much as I do.

So, here is my Printable. Feel free to click on it to get the full Size (8 1/2 X 11). You are welcome to use it for personal use, but not to make multiple copies for distribution or profit in any way. Of course, you may certainly direct anyone to my blog to download their own copy.

Once again, here are the parameters of the Giveaway:

1) Subscribe to my blog, so you can participate in the fun of discussing beauty, fashion, all things French, and also have the Freebie Friday Printables to decorate your life.
2) Go to my Etsy store: http://www.etsy.com/shop/LorrainesOoLaLa

3) Heart your favorite item (no sets please, just a single item).
4) Come back and post a comment telling what you like about it and how you create beauty in your life. I'd also welcome any other comments you might have about sharing beauty as well. Also, tell me if you have "social networked" (is that a verb?) the item.
5) For each social networking method you also use, you receive one additional entry. For example, if you tweet, pin, like on facebook, or Stumble,Tumble, LOL, etc., you receive an entry for each social network. You just need to let me know how you have done so, in order for me to give you credit.

I will be using Random Picker to choose the winners:

First place will receive the jewelry piece of their choice.
Second place will receive a $10 gift certificate to my store.
Third place will receive free shipping from my store.

In order to guarantee fairness on my part, I will be using RandomPicker.com to import all of the entries so that we truly have a random drawing. Closing of the drawing will be Friday at midnight, U.S. eastern time. I will then announce the winners on Saturday morning.

Good luck to you all!! And, as a little taste of a piece of my jewelry, here is one of my favorite items:

Bon chance every one!!