The fantastic Lottie Loves, who brought us think frock its friday has now brought us something new

Lottie Loves… Finishing School

the A-Z of how to be feminine and fabulous

As the name suggests this is a masterclass in being proud of who you are and that is of course an amazing woman. She set us our first challenge which is as follows

think about what makes you happy about yourself.

Which bits of you do you like, which bits of you do you love?  What have you achieved that you look at with satisfaction and joy? What do you like about your body? What do you love about being the woman you are? I want nothing negative, no buts just pure ‘this is what I like/love because…..’

…..Feel free to be as creative with this as you like, use pictures, poetry, stories, whatever it takes to illustrate what you love about yourself.  I shall be writing my thoughts about myself next Wednesday as I intend to take part and share my experiences with you too. I know this challenge will take all of us out of our comfort zones, afterall who is that comfortable raving about themselves?

So here goes I guess

As Lottie just said it’s not easy for anyone to bang on about what they love about themselves but I feel this is more the case for me, I have depression and borderline Bipolar so with that constant voice in your head shouting at you telling you how disgusting you are or that you can’t do anything right it’s hard to see the truth about yourself. I thought I would show you a picture of myself when I was particularly ill with my mental health last year to start with

I remember taking this picture and thinking “it’ll do” looking at it now I can’t believe it’s the same picture, I don’t look ugly like I believed then or like the horrible person I’d convinced myself I was. The fact was I wasn’t any of those I was strong and refused to back down.

That is probably my most fvourite thing about myself, I come from a long line of stubborn determined men and women so when I see a goal I’m determined to reach it. There’s always going to be obstacles; money, my health, other people, critism but the fact is if I’ve achievedso much there’s gotta be more right?

Onto my achievements; up until last August I was a Nursery Nurse, that was what I would be doing for the rest of my life but not because I was good at it or enjoyed it- well both in small doses I guess- but the fact was I left school knowing childcare, I convinced myself it’s what I wanted to do. But when it all crumbled around me I had to face facts; I loathed it! So where did I go from there? Well a few of you know where, but after that I picked myself up, rebuilt who I was completely and went after my true dream. I’d always loved journalism but it was completely out of my comfort zone, I also loved fashion but knew limited amounts about it. I started this blog then joined BSB, I have to say one of my greatest achievements is what this blog has brought me. I’ve gained so many amazing friends, two internships, a longterm job as Secondary Editor, a campaign and confidence in abundance. It’s hard to say but I’m proud of myself for that.

The way I look has changed alot over the past year, I’ve put a lot of weight on for a start which is a great thing as I was so thin and didn’t quite look proportionate. But I do like the way I look now. My hair is short and hardly ever straight but I’m grateful I have it at all, I love dying it and get bored so easily with it. I have what my granda describes as “legs right up to yer arse”, its a bit silly that saying but I like it as much as my long legs. My eyes are gorgeous and I’m being really bigheaded but who cares and finally I have a big bum and I love that too.

The way I dress really makes me happy, before I blogged I lived in jeans and shirts because I was scared of being noticed but since then I’ve realised that your style is just a portrayl of you. I like wearing what makes me happy and the fact that my winter wardrobe is basically my summer one with cardigans and tights. I like showing off my figue and recieiving nice comments about what I’m wearing.

Lastly I love being the woman I am because I am finally the real me; loud and bubbly, breaking into the industry I adore. I know that I don’t have to fight to be like anyone else anymore

I think the way I used to be compared to the way I am can be summed up in the song Freckles by Natasha bedingfield

What about you? How about you write your own post or tell me why you being you?