This is me:

This is also me on the same day in the same bathing suit right before the one above in less favorable lighting:

Then there’s the me who is feeling herself and forgets her imperfections for a second:

There are so many versions of me. But they are all me. As part of my woman-building woman challenge, I want to bring this up. Angles, lighting, and clothing all affect what we look like to others, but it’s important that we understand that they are all versions of the same person.

The real me has cellulite always whether you can see it more sometimes because of the lighting and less sometimes because of the lighting. Lighting doesn’t change who I am. It only changes how much you can see my cellulite.

The real me has bruises on her legs and scars on her knees. She’s clumsy and falls all the time. But she’s also resilient. She keeps trying despite her shortcomings… that’s why you see so many of those bruises and scars, always.

The real me knows her angles but sometimes forgets. She smiles from the side where her snaggletooth makes it look like she’s missing a tooth, or she lets her double chin sneak past her ever catching guard. She’s not perfect, and she isn’t always trying to be.

The real me has deep set eyes. A defect, I always say, but it’s part of me. With great lighting and tons of concealer, you can’t see it as much in pictures…but it’s still there. In the mirror, it stares at me. And sometimes, it makes me sad. And I wish it wasn’t one of my features… but it is. And I have to learn to accept it.

The real me has insecurities, no matter how hard she tries to accept herself. She’s brave and fights her demons by bringing light to them. And she’s slowly falling in love with every bit of herself, even the bits she’s trying to change.

The real me is that girl in the first picture. She’s the girl in the second one too, and the third. She’s the girl who is writing this thinking maybe it was a mistake and the one who is proud to post it. She’s so many things, and that’s what makes her me.