Mindful Monday: It's Great to be Pale.

First of all, Happy Memorial Day! Sending love and prayers to the families of those who've served our country.

Now I'm going to talk about being pale.

Brace yourselves, because you're going to hear a statement that you haven't heard many times, if ever: I LOVE being pale.

Shock and awe? Disbelief? Now, ask yourself why. Why is this simple statement so surprising to hear? Would you equate it to someone saying "I love being flawed" or even "I love having an undesirable skin color"? A lot of people would. But.....why?

If you've ever had a conversation with me about the pale taboo as I call it, I've probably cited the fact that porcelain white skin used to be the ideal, until Coco Chanel's accidental sunburn turned to tan in the 1920s and everyone thought it looked tres chic. Then, women began worrying about their skin tone. Soon to follow came the need to worry about every speck of visible hair on the body, then the height of their hairdos, and today, the gap between their thighs. (Seriously, have you heard about this stupid trend?!)

It seriously makes me cringe every time I hear someone say "Ugh, I am sooo pale." Not because I'm personally offended that they think pale skin is ugly, but because society has made that person feel like their complexion is unacceptable. Why do you need to be more tan than you naturally are? Why is that attractive? (I'm honestly curious. Why does tan skin make someone more attractive? Does it make them seem beachy and exotic? Really, somebody clue me in.)

I know this is the ultimate cliche, but I just think it needs to be said: There is not one image of beauty. And even though the media likes to tell us that unless you're thin, tan, and busty, you're ugly as sin, that clearly isn't the case. A ton of people look amazing tan, and they are totally beautiful the way they are! Others look great at a medium-bronze level. Others look great ghostly white.

I will rock my freckles. I will rock my lightest-shade-of-makeup-available. Because I can't change how pale I am, but I can be confident and show the world that pale ≠ undesirable/bad/ugly/lame :)

 

That's me, bein' pale.

To end, here are five reasons why I love my paleness:

1. My pale, reddish, freckly skin shows my Irish heritage
2. I constantly have to wear sunscreen, so I'll probably never get skin cancer
3. I don't look painted orange
4. Earth tones look great on pale people
5. I don't have to worry about "maintaining" my pale 

Have a great Memorial Day and think about something you LOVE about yourself!
-Ellen ♥ 

Mindful Monday: Love.

Spoiler alert: This post includes a high level of sappiness and nothing about fitness.

Today my boyfriend and I are celebrating 5 years of being together!

 

So, for Mindful Monday, I just wanted to reflect on the positive impact this guy's had on my life.

Before we met, I was an extremely shy, sad girl who didn't really fit in, who had no reason to think she was anything special. Over the last five amazing years of my life, Josh has shown me the importance of believing in yourself and having the courage to say "I am something special." Through his never-faltering support and kindness, I have learned what it's like to be truly loved. And once I learned to accept that kind of love, I learned that I deserve to love myself, too.

Both of our lives have changed so much since we were 15. Schools, hobbies, friend groups, TV shows, and even some of our values and beliefs have shifted and evolved. But even through all of the most amazing ups and the most devastating downs, Jellen hasn't changed a bit, really. Our relationship gets stronger and stronger every day. And on this, our five year anniversary, I am so happy and proud to celebrate the best years of my life (so far) with the best person I've ever met.

Advice: Be with someone who makes you so happy. Because:

Have a great day :)
-Ellen