Bringing out the Best

Hello my lovely friends,

There will always be people you meet that are just way cool. You admire their passion, their way of talking, or just their face in general. But the best kinds of people are those that push you to be a better person, either by inspiring us through their example, or just being honest with how we have room to grow. 

These people tend to be close, someone in your Inner Circle of Comfort; someone that knows if you have an innie or an outie for a belly button is what I mean. When you're with them, they seem to make your attitude a little brighter, and make you feel like it's possible to grow as a person into something more elegant than your current self. They can suggest sudden behavioral changes to you with their facial expressions, if you're getting out of hand and haven't noticed. You aspire to be someone they can trust to be constantly self improving, even though they might not even be aware of this desire. 

Sometimes this can be warped into a bad game of comparison, always feeling like you have to show self improvement to someone, to keep up to where they are in life. They make you want to be a better person, but not because they inspire you but because you feel like you need to earn their affection and your current self just isn't good enough. I'm not talking about that kind of relationship; it's toxic and unhelpful for being a better version of yourself (and I fall into that trap too). I wish less people felt like #goals was something healthy and saw it for what it truly is: the insecurities of one contrasted with the strengths of another. 

I don't want relationships in which I am afraid to speak my insecurities, I want to be able to share so I can be encouraged and uplifted by a friend. I want to be that friend in return, someone that each day can acknowledge an individual's unique strengths and breathe life into them by my encouraging words. This is so much more than complimenting the people I meet, it's living with an attitude of "I'm on your team. Let's make the team better." Each person on the team has to be willing to improve and see growth. Without that attitude, we'll upload another caption of #goals and then go back to the place where we started. I don't want that for myself. 

I want to surround myself with people that are crazy honest, that don't take my flaws sitting down, and give me practical ways to conquer my fears. They take an interest in who I am as an individual and how I am growing into a more elegant self. They don't let you shy away from criticism like we so often do as a defense mechanism. They take who you are and love you, but they don't fail to notice the ways in which you can improve. I want to be a friend like that.  

So what can we do today? To tell people that we are on their team, and we want the team to be better? 

This outfit was accidentally over the top -- I love it. 

Starting with these socks that I recently purchased, I paired it with a few neutrals as to not be too off-putting, making sure the silhouette was balanced enough to blend in with my usual wardrobe. Then I did my hair for a different reason, delighted that I had a great outfit to match for the special occasion. After seeing how delicately I had joined the socks and hair in holy matrimony, I knew the finishing touch would be a satisfying smokey eye with dangerously dark lips. I'm so poetic but really I was just excited about being all put-together. The fur coat, of course, was a recently thrifted item, being used for completely different events, but was just the glamorous touch I needed to seal it all together.  And voila - my morning thought process as I got dressed for walking around at school.... much too complex for a Tuesday. 

//Coat: Thrifted//Top: Thrifted//Necklace: Oakridge Gift Shop//Skirt: Northern Reflections//Socks: Forever 21//Shoes: The Shoe Warehouse//Lipstick: Rimmel Kissproof Provocalips in Just Teasing (honestly? why)// 

I chose a pleasant hymn for this week's tune; there's a non-acoustic version, but this one showcases the voice of Phil Wickham so much better, and his acoustic album that just came out has sung me to sleep more than once since it's arrival. He is such a stellar vocalist, and while health problems have made his career into something he didn't expect, I have been a fan of his for a long time and he continues to bring actual artistry to the worship song planet of music. Creativity and soul; he has both. Enjoy! 

Love, Natasha