Everyone Has a Story

You know when you come across someone that you connect with on a spiritual level? Like, the more you get to know them, the more you can feel your souls merging together? It's beautiful. It just sucks when that person doesn't even know that you exist because they are famous and you're just some random person reading their book.
I am reading Brittany Gibbon's book Fat Girl Walking: Sex, Food, Love, and Being Comfortable in Your Skin...Every Inch of It. Reading it has been a glorious experience. Brittany is decidedly hilarious, which initially drew me in, but what kept me reading was her brutal honesty along with the connection I have truly felt to her while getting to know her and her story. I don't want to sound creepy, because it's not like I want to stalk her and wear her face for a mask or anything, I just think it would be cool to meet her one day and have her sign my book or something.
It's so nice to find someone who you feel really knows you just by them sharing their story and you thinking "is this my diary or...?".
Something I have been thinking about consistently this past year is when and how to share my own story. I believe everyone has a story to tell, and I think that mine is one that could inspire others. I want my message to be similar to Brittany's; I want people to know that it's more than okay to accept yourself for who you are, and that beauty literally has nothing to do with the size of your clothes or the way your body looks naked. I started a project a long time ago called B.U. which stands for Beauty Undefined (but it also sounds like be you...get it?)
So anyway, whenever I worked on this project, it never seemed to really take off. I had all of these ideas, but I would soon lose my inspiration and give up on it. I have picked the project back up multiple times throughout my life, but so far, not a whole lot has come from it.
I did make a few videos on YouTube, which I am very proud of (I'll post the videos below), but again, I lost my inspiration not long after posting them, which really is a shame. Especially after the positive response that I got.

VIDEOS:




That doesn't mean I ever stopped having the desire to continue, though. The desire has always been there, even before I created B.U. Most of the time, though, I feel too inadequate to carry on with the project.
However, I have recently been feeling pretty strongly that 2016 will be my year. It will be the year for me to finally share my story and spread this message that I have been wanting to spread for a long time. I finally feel like my story is truly ready to be told, and that I have more important things to say now than I ever have before. I don't think the timing has ever been right up until now.
I don't know my exact next steps for pursuing B.U., but I know that blogging and writing will be a huge part of it.
I just quickly have to thank Brittany Gibbons for sharing her story. She has empowered and inspired me to share my own.
Maybe one day Brittany and I can meet and maybe she will be like "Hey, love that book you wrote." And then we will become instant best friends. Ok...so maybe that's a bit far-fetched, but a girl can dream, right?

To anyone reading this, I want you to know that your voice matters, and it is important. I have to remind my self of that every single day, because, for whatever reason, I like to tell myself that no one wants to hear what I have to say, or that it isn't important enough. I just need to tell that part of my brain to shove it, because that's just not true. I want to encourage and inspire others, and I don't think that's such a bad goal to have. It's not like we couldn't use anymore positivity in the world.
I sincerely hope that you will stick around and eventually be inspired by something that I have to say.