Excited and Empowered

I was going to wait until tomorrow to write this post, but after the day I’ve had and how inspired I am, I just couldn’t wait. I meet a lot of very inspiring women (and men) through my modeling, but also through the business community in Columbia. I am always shocked how many more there are. I get to meet new people all the time, and most of them are amazing, but some of them are just above and beyond anything you could imagine. I attended a Rich Girl’s Party today, and though I can’t give many details (it’s a secret organization, if you’re interested, contact me), I can say that I am thoroughly inspired and empowered by the women I met and networked with tonight. I could never thank the people in my life enough for the things they’ve done for me and the ways they’ve changed not only my life, but the ways they’ve changed the way I think about things.

I’ve always been wary about modeling or doing anything in the fashion/theater industry because everyone told me it would change how I act, how I think about my body, etc… And they were right. I do think about my body and myself and the world in general differently now. But not in a bad way. Working with the amazing photographers I’ve had the privilege to meet has shown me a different beauty within myself. I can look at a photograph of myself critically now without hating certain parts of my body. I am getting better at posing myself to be more appealing to the camera. I’m growing, not only as a model, but as a woman, because of the beauty I see in the work I’ve produced with different photographers.

And no, it’s not always easy, especially modeling with other girls who are tiny and tall and absolutely gorgeous. But I’ve learned to appreciate the fact that we all have our strengths, our unique beauties, and our own places in the world. I truly believe that anyone can do anything they put their mind to, but I especially believe that if it’s something you love. And modeling has become something for me that I could never imagine. It makes my heart so happy when a photographer reaches out to me and tells me how much they enjoyed working with me, how happy they are with our work. There’s nothing like a business person reaching out to you to ask if they can use your photograph for a story they’re writing or to hang on their office wall.

In short, let’s just say my short experience in modeling has excited and empowered me more than I can express. The people I’m meeting and the friends I’m making and the work I’m creating fills my heart with so much joy, I can’t say enough how thankful I am for every part of this experience. Lord knows how long it’ll last, but I know that it has been and will continue to be a wild ride.

I was intending this post to be on body image and loving yourself how you are, but it turned into more of an experience appreciation post, which is okay too, I guess. I swear I’ll get to that body image post here soon. I listened to an amazing podcast this week that really contributed to what I was planning to say about body image, but I’ll get there soon. If you like my blog, please share with your friends, and drop me a line with what you think! (Photography credits: Relentless Elegance Photography and Aaron Fung Photography)