Praise You
By Dita Parker
I’m on Delilah’s blog, I’m on Delilah’s blog… *chants* What? I think she’s a pretty fabulous author with the track record to match. What is a rookie like me to do but flaunt a little?
Speaking of which, I need to ask you all a favor. I’d like to play a game today. A really simple one and everyone’s eligible to enter. You see, I picked up a beauty magazine at the hairdresser’s the other day and instantly remembered why I gave those up sometime during the last century: they make you feel ugly. Conveniently, they also offer the remedy to all the insecurities and inferiorities of their own making on the very next page because that’s what they’re selling, both the disease and the cure.
Screw them. I think there’s nothing more beautiful than someone who is comfortable in their own skin, and it has nothing to do with what we’re being sold or told. So what I want to do today is hear you flaunt your fannies off. I don’t want to know what you’d change about yourself if you could, I want to know what you wouldn’t trade for the world. I don’t want you to compare yourself to anyone, living or dead, and say you wish you looked like so-and-so, I want you to tell me what you like about yourself. When we’re done, keep telling yourself that, with conviction, with a vengeance, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Okay? Okay.
To get you going, I’ll go first. I like my eyes, golden brown stars spreading on olive green. My nails are strong and healthy, so is my hair. Wavy, wash and go, always a plus when you don’t have the time or the inclination to spend gargantuan portions of time in front of the bathroom mirror each morning. You know what else is naturally curvy? My figure. I got hips and shoulders and I’ve got a butt, but I’ve also got a waist, a proportional hourglass I think looks pretty nice.
That wasn’t so hard. It actually felt quite good, and that’s saying a lot when you’re originally from Europe where they teach you self-aggrandizement is the eighth deadly sin. Luckily, I grew up elsewhere.
Before I forget, thank you, Delilah, for the spotlight! Now let’s turn it on you. Don’t be shy and do not be modest. Show me the pretty, the beautiful, what you love about yourselves, and shine on!
Yours truly madly deeply,
Dita Parker
http://ditaparker.blogspot.com
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Dita! Why not post your blurb for that sexy cover right here in the comments? I’ve been drooling ever since I put it up!
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Nice one, Dita. What a refreshing change! We could be sisters with our brown eyes (I mean olive green). I guess I’d have to say I like my smooth skin I inherited somehow. I used to get annoyed when telephone solicitors would ask to talk to “my mom” when I was 40. Not anymore! 😛
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Here you go, Delilah, enjoy… Haven’t tired looking at that cover yet and never will.
And hey there, Sharon, always nice to meet a woman with kindred beepers!
Lin wasn’t above using extreme measures to ensure she never lost her husband, including a good old-fashioned spell. But the man now standing at her door looks like far more than she’d bargained for. He has the tall-dark-and-handsome thing down pat. What lies beneath the sexy stranger’s cool exterior, Lin can only imagine. Vividly.
In New Orleans, a little magic goes a long way. Returning to his hometown and his wife, Tristan has to wonder if this time it didn’t go too far. He has gotten his wish, and now he has to let a man he would never have wanted anywhere near his wife have her in every way imaginable.
Alex doesn’t believe in magic. He doesn’t believe in fate or matches made in heaven. But he believes in keeping a promise. Especially one that comes with benefits as seductive and desirable as Lin.
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Hi,
Great post!!!
For a Mum of eleven kids and two grandkids…I look pretty hot!!! I have good hair, bright eyes, good skin….not a bad figure.
Most people cannot believe I’ve had so many kids…hehe!!!
Valerie
in Germany
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Hi Valerie, *waves across the Baltic Sea*, thanks for stopping by, now that’s the spirit!
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I like my hair. A few years ago I decided to stop coloring it and let it “au naturel”. It’s a mixture of blond, brown, gray and white though I’m told by my hairdresser it will end up completely white one day. My daughter keeps telling me to cover that gray but no I like it like it is.
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What a fun post, Dita! You’re right about those magazines. I especially dislike the anti-aging cream ads that feature 20 year old women.
To answer your question, my favorite feature is my long, naturally curly hair. I hated it as a kid. Today, it’s a blessing.
Best–Adele
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Pardon my tardiness, ladies, had to catch some ZZZ’s…and now you’re all in bed. Stupid time difference.
Diane, getting out of the coloring cycle had to be a relief. There’s no end to that once the gray starts showing, is there. Why it should bother your daughter, though… Does it make her feel older, perhaps?
Adele, having seen your picture, I love your hair too! Some cousins of mine have these great big bunches of curls I so envied as a kid. They of course wanted my more moderate waves. Now everyone’s happy as things are. So it goes.
Thanks for playing along, everyone! You’re beautiful.
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Great blurb and cover! And what a fun way to start the morning (sorry I’m late, btw, I’m on the EC Daily Digest). You know what I wouldn’t give away for all the money in the world? My c-section scar. It makes me think of my son every time I see it 🙂
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I have pretty blue eyes. And people always say I look about 10 years younger which is nice since I am 51. Hated that when I was much younger. Lovin’ it when I older. LOL.
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Good for you, Dita. If more women and men thought the same way a lot of people in the “fashion” industry would be out of work. 😉
I have a great smile and a positive attitude. I think that goes a long way. Great post.
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Look at all the lovely ladies here!
Shoshanna, kids definitely leave a mark, don’t they? But like you said, they’re like battle scars of a war won and you have the child to prove it!
Sue, my little sister has a baby face and probably always will. Like you, she really hated it growing up. She’s coming around now that she’s 30 going on 17.
Hi Shelley! I gave up on dressing in the latest fashions years ago when I realized that meant dressing against body type 90 percent of the time. So I only buy what fits and looks nice on me. Much less embarrassing than trying to cram both cheeks into jeans with room for only one. 😉
And attitude does go a long way. A woman can be any shape or size and still look like a million bucks when she’s not ashamed or insecure. I do know it’s hard with those cursed magazines and ads screaming “Are you sure?”