"The end is where you start from. It took the ending of the most miserable relationship I have ever been in to kick me into a new gear. I became really involved on myself and what it truly meant to know me and love me. I had to dig deep, unearth, and unfold a lot. But being the creator of my own reality was my guide. Being the controller of changing my own patterns was my drive. I found my path of least resistance and every day, I’m getting better and better at staying on my path only. I knew...
"I never post personal things on Instagram, but this is something close to my heart that I think could be important to share. I have struggled with my self-worth for as long as I can remember. I'll admit, I have wanted a Prince Charming since I laid eyes on Aladdin... and I've looked for him. I searched, scoured, and quested for a man to make me feel complete and beautiful and loved and cared for. I latched on to several unwilling and/or unworthy males, tried to push and pull them into the shape I wanted and needed like they were...
"This journey of self love has gone up and down. I’m reaching a place where things are falling into place and I want to thank you for making this movement. It motivated me to purchase my ring all that while ago. I know self love is an ongoing journey but every day get easier ❤️"
-Karla
Connect with her on Instagram! @karlasueee
"In 2014 my life had changed forever - my (ex) husband had left me for someone else just shy of our 10 year anniversary of being together. When he left I was stuck with a house, no job and no family to help. I was a stay at home with two little daughters who needed me. The problem was I didn’t know who I was. Fast forward to 3 years later - I bought a new house, have an amazing career (after many minimum wage jobs) and know who I am. I was always defined as a wife and mother. I worked very hard to get to where...
"I attended my first back-to-school night as a single mom this last fall and my oldest son’s 6th grade teacher was addressing the parents about how if it were up to him, he wouldn’t use grades at all. “Learning is a journey,” he said. “It does not end in a year.” It’s true, you know, it never stops. Sometimes I have days that rattle my confidence. I think about my boys, about how I worry about them. About the heaviness of the responsibility of parenthood in general, let alone single parenthood. I think about the stress that doing this alone...
"Mine is a story of resilience and self-appointed bad assery. It is full of twists, turns, detours, and surprises, ones that I am still learning to understand myself. Perhaps y'all can help me on this journey of seeking significance. I grew up pseudo-normally as a painfully Type A, perfectionist, overly-empathetic child in a loving family. I'm a quirky, fun-loving, analytical person who has always found beauty in emotions and in humans; I've been fascinated by the interconnected nature of the universe. In about 2009, this finally manifested as a desire to become a doctor. Since then, I have been fixated...
" Less than a year ago from today I was gang raped. Yes you read that correctly, I was raped by three men that attended my university. I was destroyed I hid in shame, I didn’t come out of the dorms very often, and when I did, I was in the biggest baggiest clothes I could possibly find, doing everything I could to hide the body that must have invited strangers to stay. When it was the weekend I was tossing drinks back in an outfit I used to love wearing, that I felt radiated beauty and the body I...
"Just over a year ago I started a venture to heal my Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) naturally through lifestyle changes and supplementation. Anyone who knows PCOS can tell you, it is like an all-out assault on your femininity and your peace of mind. Your best chances of healing the symptom-causing issues at the root come from a painfully clean diet, exercise that doesn't over stress your body, and stress reduction in your life (also certain supplements that can help). I was in a relationship at the time that had become just too much for me, and I had to let...
"You want to talk about vulnerability? Well I know all about that too well. Vulnerability entails giving your all to someone, being essentially naked to them for they can see every part of your being without any barriers, you give yourself to them raw as you are. It’s a beautiful thing, it’s a beautiful thing when you do all that for the right person. It wasn’t the case for me. My journey to self love has been the hardest one I’ve traveled, the most painful, the most cruel but the best. You want to talk about a painful journey? Imagine...
"I joined the Fred + Far self-love movement a little over a year after my Dad passed away. My Dad was my very best friend and losing him at such a young age affected me in ways I didn’t think it would. Obviously I was sad about it, but I didn’t realize my grief had manifested as anxiety and anger too. I suffered for about a year and a half before I sought help. Part of that help was finding the self-love pinky ring! Since receiving my ring, I have made an effort to focus on the things that make...
" I would always “joke” around and tell people that I’m my own best friend. At some level I’ve always been fully aware that it isn’t a joke- I am my own best friend, and that’s a good thing. Growing up as an only child I’ve always relied on myself and it hasn’t been until recently that I’ve realized how much this has shaped me into the women I am today. All my accomplishments and success is my own, and things I have created myself. My ring is a reminder that no matter what, I will always have myself- which...
My journey to self love is a long one. Growing up with bullying and body shaming and in a broken family, with an unbelievable strong woman that I am grateful to call my mother raising 5 children on her own. I lost my heart to a man when I was 20, 9 years ago, and never got it back, just to realize, I will never be with him. Like a leaf did I try to find my place in this world, always thinking not to be good enough, not to be right the way I am. I got told I...
