All naturalNovember 19, 2015

Lets face it, we all have image issues. I have a friend who is always, really ALWAYS, late, another seems to yo-yo with their weight. Some have the most fashionable exterior hiding a broken inside, while others are solid but, with all the love in the world, couldn’t get far in a beauty pageant. And, we all want to tweak it too, perhaps we want the wittiest on-line persona, or can’t resist a new hairstyle. I knew a beautiful girl who would wake an hour earlier so her partner would never see her without full make-up.

Then there is the dreaded make-over. I remember vividly being a tweenager on a school holiday, with a suitcase full of clothes that screamed ‘dork’ – the girls really thought they were doing me a service. My overly small frame was clad with jeans belted far past the button, and mascara that went beyond panda and into black eye territory. The grand entrance to the dinner room was cut short by a teacher who ordered me straight to the bathrooms to ‘remove it’. The teachers face conveying they had unwittingly updated my look all the way to ‘clown’. Barefaced and pulling on my own clothes again I felt like I was re-emerging, being more true to me.

While make-up has never been much concern to me, nail polish pulled me in deep. I’ve admired many a professional job but never splurged to get it done myself. It seems a more usual thing here is Serbia than in the parts of England I’ve called home, but a little pampering can go a long way I’m assured. I’ll admit I felt a little apprehensive but after 2 long hours my nails were truly pampered. I felt great too. I had been forced to stop. When I walked in the house the pent up energy exploded as I danced around with Adam in my arms.

I went through the usual learning curve, changing a nappy was fun, the odd feeling and slight egocentric moments. Then on Sunday one fell off. The bubble burst as my true nail was revealed in all it’s bareness. A replacement was given but on Tuesday another bare nail was apparent, soon, for safety sake, I’ll encourage the rest off. My memory was tugged staring at that one bare nail, echoes of that barefaced girl all those years ago, like I was again re-emerging. In my imagination my nails were rejecting this foreign thing, standing their ground, reminding me I’m as God created not as Kate curated.

We will never stop tweaking our appearance to the world, though I hope we have the courage to show our true skin from time to time. When I see the beauty of the natural push back through it reminds me that it’s the deep beauty we must nurture, protect and develop. It’s the heart and soul of who we are that is worth so much more than the trinkets we adorn ourselves with. So, for now I’ll let my nails heal, be natural, for now I’ll crawl back into familiar clothes and habits born so long ago – it won’t last!

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