3.08.2013

{Love You: Shayla}

I just recently had the wonderful opportunity to connect with Shayla for the love you series.  She had read a "Love You" post on another blog, and reached out to me and asked if she could write a post herself.  Of course, I was ecstatic!!  When I first started this series, I of course had to reach out to my blogger buddies and the blogs I read to see if anyone was interested in guest posting about their self love. 

But I just want all of you out there to know that this series is about creating a movement of self love in our blogs' spheres of influence, so my theme is "the more the merrier."  If you ever want to do a "love you" post on DahliaLynn please do not hesitate to reach out to me because I would be happy to share with both your readers and mine all the amazing things that I know you have to love about yourself.  So seriously just email me.  I do not want this series to be one that is only for popular, big readership, insert whatever you want blogs, but rather inclusive of everyone.  The blogger world can be both welcoming and intimidating, and I really admire how Shayla put herself out there.  So thankful to have been conncted to her, and I bet you will be too after reading what she has to say today.

"My blog is Designing A Life and I work as freelance graphic designer | shayla grace and photographer | Kee Photographers and I own a paper shop | laLa Grace.

I first heard about this series on another blog and I immediately fell in love with this concept; I am so honored to be a part of such an important and unique series on the web. I've been reading through the previous Love You post and many of them have brought a tear to my eye for many different reasons. I especially enjoyed reading the very first Love You post that talks about why this series was started in the first place.

So here we go, 5 things I love about myself...

1. I love that I wear my heart on my sleeve. I don't think God gave me even a smidge of the fake gene, it is literally impossible for me to hide how I'm feeling. Of course there are times that I wish I could but as I've gotten older I've learned to appreciate openly expressing my feelings and I understand that wearing my heart on my sleeve is what keeps me humble and grounded and genuine.

2. I love my curly hair. I really can't believe that anyone with curly ever wishes it were permanently straight. Curly hair is a lot of work (it's all about finding the right products), but once you learn to manage it, it's fabulous! And what's nice is that I can straighten it every once in awhile for a fun and different look, but I really love my curls so I leave it au natural 99% of the time. To me curly hair is soft and romantic and it makes me feel pretty and feminine. I've even learned to accept the fact that I wake up looking life Mufasa from the Lion King; I often joke with my husband that I know he really loves me because he can look at me in the morning when my curls are going crazy in a million different directions and tell me that I look beautiful.

3. I love that I can draw. I've enjoyed drawing and coloring since I was a little girl but it wasn't until recently that I really explored using my drawings in my work. Even though I've been working as a freelance graphic designer for over 6 years I mostly focused on my straight forward design skills vs hand drawn elements. This was due mainly to insecurity about my art but I've recently put that aside and embraced my love of drawing with open arms and have even created a line of Greeting Cards in my laLa Grace Etsy Shop that are all hand drawn. My style is very whimsical and playful and I love it. I honestly get giddy with joy when I'm drawing I love that I have it as a creative outlet and that I have such an endless of source of joy at my finger tips!

4. I love being a homebody and a bit of a loner. It's true, a friend of mine often jokes with me that if left to my own devices I'd be like the yogi in the cave. Now that I'm married I'm less of a loner than I used to be but I do still very much value my alone time; it's one of the reasons my husband and I work well together, he appreciates this quality in me and gives me my space when I need it. And working as a freelancer is the perfect fit for me because it allows me to work from home and home is my absolute favorite place to be, I can go an entire week without ever leaving my house and be blissfully happy.

5. I love that I live a holistic lifestyle. I've been a vegetarian since I was 15 years old and my husband and I are now mostly Vegan. I've also meditated and practiced yoga since I was 17. For as long as I can remember I have been interested in animal rights, the philosophy of Ahimsa (non-violence), whole living and different spiritual practices that help connect us with something bigger than ourselves. I'm a Christian but I love all religions and spiritual beliefs and incorporate many of them into my daily life. Jesus teaches us above all to love and that is what I keep forefront in my at all times."

So I am convinced that Shayla and I would be very close buddies if she lived closer.  I can really relate to everything she shared except being able to draw.  I draw a mean stick figure and bubble letter, but that is about it.  It is really hard for me to highlight just one "love" like I usually do, but Shayla has really got me thinking about loving your lifestyle.  I have always thought that when you are doing healthy things for your mind, body, and spirit you should maybe not be super appreciative to yourself because you should be doing it.  But I am just flat out wrong.  I really believe that all of us strive to do things in our lives that are healthy for us, and we should love that about yourselves.  Thank you so much Shayla for sharing with us today because now the blog world has a little bit more self love in it than yesterday.  Lotsa love...J 

Photo Credit: Shayla Grace

3 comments:

  1. Jessica, everything you wrote made me teary eyed, it was all so sweet and humbling.

    I too feel like we would be close buddies if we lived closer and I do hope that even with the distance we will get to meet in person one day.

    I LOVE this series and I'm looking forward to having you on my blog series; even thought it's no where as awesome as this one. :)

    Have a great weekend!

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  2. I seriously look forward to reading your Love You posts every week. It's so nice to read about all these lovely women and always makes for a cheery Friday read!

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  3. I simply love this series and concept! Shayla sounds amazing and I can't wait to follow along. Thanks for spreading the love! Happy Friday!

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