Do you know what confidence is? It's a hidden treasure, stored in a secret place.
When you sow into yourself, and take care to pull any weed of self-doubt and negativity, then you are growing more than what you can see.
It is in the darkest, most difficult seasons that, where you thought you planted a cute skirt; or a nicely thought out shoe purchase; you will pull from the ground something far more valuable than time saved or feeling cute.
Confidence is like a strong tower, and you build it in your life, but it protects and encourages the lives all around you. When you lack confidence, similarly it is felt by everyone around you, because you aren't able to help in the same ways. You are too busy focused inward, looking at what you see to be the problem.
Start with a good old fashion closet-gutting. Move on to appreciating the colors and prints you find totally amazing, start redirecting resources towards thoughtful purchases, and begin to look carefully to find what weeds of self-doubt have grown up in your heart and need ripped out! Building confidence requires loads of hard work, perseverance and perspective. It is a lifelong process, and that is my problem with the fashion industry, that preys on your insecurities and promises to fix them immediately if you overcommit your resources in their direction.
If you feel overwhelmed and unequipped, that means you are acknowledging the size of the problem. Yes, in that unhappy place we find our start. The reason we hate parts of ourselves is because someone first hated us. Or maybe they just looked at us sideways and we took from it, that our nose IS too big, or our hair IS too frizzy. What is the lie, then? It's about our hair and that sideways look. How do we pull that weed? I think, by forgiving both our hair and the look.
XXMrs. Emily