August 24th, 2014

In the beggining there was an obsession with perfection. Pain. Self Destruction. Hopelessness. Self Judgement. Not good enough. Not pretty enough. Not smart enough.

But now there is acceptance. Connection to being perfectly imperfect.Freedom. Connecting to my inner source. Confidence. Transformation. Forgiveness. Uniqueness.  Self discovery. Purpose. Self Love.

These are some of the key phrases exchanged yesterday at The BE Experience: Love Uplifts Love. I can honestly say it was such a powerful, open and honest conversation. Here were 6 women from different backgrounds, all describing their journey's which were defined by so many similar emotions and feelings in the beginning. The 2 guests I personal invited, Arielle Caputo (www.deapinlove.com) and Dawn Dai (www.dawndaispeaks.com)  could not have been more perfect. Arielle is a suicide prevention expert and really uses her personal experience and journey to help empower others. Dawn is a confident radiance of sunshine who is rooted in love and truly motivates others to go after their dreams and live their purpose. What these women, and the other attendees shared, re-affirmed the link of our human experience and existence and the journey of womanhood. We as women may face different challenges but we all have to face the stories we often tell ourselves about our worth,  value, beauty, and abilities. Often these stories play out and our affected most by our romantic relationships. Few of us have the privilege of being rooted in having really healthy esteem or an accurately positive self image by way of our upbringing and early experiences. For those that do, bless your upbringing. There comes a time in a woman's life, or several points actually,  in which you experience aha moments about your relationship with yourself.  Who you want be. Who you want to represent. Most importantly,  how you can authentically love your self with full acceptance and the boldness to live your own purpose driven life. Our journeys involve learning to forgive ourselves. Forgive ourselves for decisions we regret but learn there's no regret only lessons that may hurt and change the trajectories of our lives. We forgive ourselves of lies we tell ourselves about our beauty; about our skin not being flawless enough, being tall enough, not having the perfect butt or cup size, not having hair we love,  not being light or dark enough,  etc. Our journey is determined by getting to know ourselves and unlearn all the stories we've been told by others,  whether in hurt or praise.  Our journey becomes one of accepting that we are imperfect and it's ok. Learning to find out what we need to re-affirm our power and how to fill our own love tank up with gratitude.

Self Love is a journey,  but not one you have to be on by yourself because if there's another woman in your life who is open to being her, and really learning what it means to live, you can be open about your journeys together. So often we think we have to experience certain aspects of life alone, and we don't.  Even those who have the most self defeating and life threatening thoughts need someone.  Not just a counselor,  but someone who understands that the journey can be really challenging. There is no moment in which the journey will be complete.  You will continually transform, and everyone won't be around to see it, and that's ok. I'm just overflowing with gratitude and can't wait for the BE message to continue to spread: Self love is the key to living a life worth living. Furthermore, it's not just about living a life for you, but learning to lift others up along the way. They say real recognizes real, well I say, Love Uplifts Love. Too many women compete with or get jealous of one another. Who cares about what she's wearing, how she speaks, how "relevant" she is, how beautiful she is, how awkward she is, how successful she is. The two things you should care about how you will support, empower and love that women and how you will do the same for yourself!  Women can be so empowered when they choose the state of BEing that defines them. It takes knowing who you are and connecting with yourself by practicing self love to just BE and shine your light to the world.I choose to BE Love. What's Your BE?

BE You~
Written by: Tiffany W.