Hello friends!

Today is another day for a words of wisdom post. I really like sharing personal things about myself on the internet because I feel like my stories can help someone out there too. Not too long ago, I wrote a post called Accepting Emily. I would be lying to you if I said that writing that one was easy. However, I got a lot of positive feedback from that post. It made me feel like I was making an impact, which is why I love posting under this category. I got stopped at school one day and a girl told me that the post really helped her with her own set of struggles. I may seem picture perfect on the blog, but it's just a small piece of my life. Every day, I still struggle with learning to accept myself and the things that are happening around me. But I am slowly getting there.

In a world centered around social media, I often find myself comparing what I look like to supermodels and fellow peers. Getting exposed to a daily dose of what people would call "beautiful" made it hard for me to like the way I look. Am I enough? Am I beautiful? I would always pick out the things that I lacked in and it was not a good cycle. I would constantly stand in front of a mirror and find things that I didn't like. I blamed my skin when a boy I liked didn't like me the same. Well, screw that boy. He missed out on a chance to get to know a really awesome person. The reality is, nobody is perfect. Somebody else's version of ugly is another person's version of beautiful. A single person shouldn't determine my self-worth. I am valuable in every possible way. I am beautiful. I guess it took me several years to finally see that.

Nevertheless, I am still a work-in-progress. I still have my own set of insecurities, but I am starting to love the little weird things about me that make me who I am. Jenn Im, one of my biggest fashion inspirations, posted a video on her YouTube Channel called the My Perfect Imperfections Tag. I do not have my own YouTube channel, but I decided it would be interesting if I wrote it out in this blog. Here is to another dose of Emily realness.

First off, I want to explain the structure of the tag. You have to pick out 3 things that you dislike about yourself, 3 extrinsic things that you love about yourself, 1 personality trait that you dislike, and 1 personality trait that you love. I hope you participate in this tag as well. Whether that is creating your own YouTube video to post online or writing it down in your journal. It is a really great way to practice self-love.

My Flaws

1. My scars
When I was young, I had the softest and smoothest skin. My favorite part of my body was my back. However, when I got older, things changed. My growth spurt happened so quickly that my skin didn't have time to stretch out gradually, leaving me with stretch marks on my butt, thighs, and knees. In addition to my newly acquired stretch marks, I developed severe scoliosis which I could only correct with surgery.  My flawless back was now slashed with a 14-inch scar going down the middle. I disliked my scars. I thought they were hideous and they were the main reason why I never liked going to the beach as I got older. I couldn't help but feel like everyone was staring at me wondering what went wrong. This summer has helped me look past these flaws. My scars make me unique. I have an interesting story to tell. Not many people can say they went through a spinal surgery at the ripe age of 14 and had to learn how to walk again. I am different and different is good. Who wants to be boring?

2. My skin
All of you know my constant struggle with acne. Each day I awake with a new set of pimples or acne scarring. These last two years, my breakouts have been minimal. However, I just recently experienced another epic breakout which was definitely a throwback to the days where I would go on a constant torturous search to get my acne fixed quick. I am handling things differently now. Sure, I don't have perfect, flawless, porcelain skin. But it's not a crime to have a pimple sprout on your face. I still feel good about the way I look even when I decide not to cover it up. Everyone experiences acne in their teenage years. You just have to realize that it's genes that are causing this.

3. My chest
b00bs. If there was an executive board for the itty bitty titty committee, I would be president. My chest is about as flat as a middle school boy LOL. I often joke to my friends that I am a plank. Okay, it's not that flat. But you get my point. Sometimes I come across men that have bigger boobs than me. My biggest problem with no boobs is that I have an issue working with low-cut anything. My proportions are way off and sometimes I have to compensate with a massive push-up bra like the VS bombshell. Push-up bras actually hurt. While my itty bitty titties cannot hold a strapless dress up for its life, there are a lot of awesome things about having nonexistent boobs. I can jump, run, and swim without my boobs getting in the way. Sports bras do nothing for me because I need no support. I don't need to spend loads of money on expensive bras. I experience no back pain because there is nothing in the front weighing me down. I can lay flat on my chest. I can go braless because my boobs are undetectable. Bralettes are my best friend. And I will never have to experience sagging because my boobs will forever remain perky since there is almost none to begin with. :) Jokes aside, I have actually grown to like my flatness.

My Strengths

1. My brows
I have a full set of brows that I never have to fill in. The natural full brow is a big trend in the makeup world and I am pretty lucky to have a full set. At the end of the day, I don't need to wipe my brows off of my face because they are always there. My brows frame my eyes and I have to thank my parents for giving me these furry little caterpillars. :)

2. My hair
Ever since I was a young kid, I always had soft thick hair. My mother was a huge believer of Vietnamese superstitions. According to my mother, I had very thin hair as a kid so my mom decided to consult my grandma about this issue. My grandma advised her to shave all of my hair off and she did. I was walking around like a bald 1-year-old, but my hair grew a lot thicker. Now I am not entirely sure if this works, but according to my mother, it did. I have so much hair now that my pig tails look like two massive ponytails in comparison to a thin-haired gal. I consider my hair my greatest accessory.

3. My smile
I always love smiling. Smiling makes me happy and puts me in a better mood even if I am having a bad day. As a kid, I always had a slight overbite. So, in the 6th grade, my mom took me to the orthodontist to straighten up my teeth. I was so insecure about smiling for the longest of time. Brace face is not cute. As soon as I got them removed, I couldn't stop showing off my pearly whites. Smiling is infectious. It makes me and the people around me happier. I love sending out positive vibes when I smile. :)

Personality Flaws

1. Overthinking
One of my biggest struggles is overthinking things. I often lose sleep over the littlest of things because I am constantly worried and stressed about the future. I have a hard time accepting the way things are. Whenever I strike a conversation, a million thoughts are racing through my mind. I pick every little thing apart because I never want to settle. Because of this, I often get really tired and burnt out very quickly. I cause a lot of unnecessary stress and I have been working hard to learn how to quiet my mind. Lately, I have taken on journaling and daily exercise to help me relieve any stress so that I would stop sweating over the little things. My mind is more peaceful now and I no longer have worrisome thoughts!

Personality Strengths

1. Ambition
The one trait that I love about myself is my ambition. I have always been the kind of gal who sets her eyes on the prize and is ready to do whatever it takes to achieve success. The fire that is lit inside of me never burns out because I always have the energy to chase my dreams. Like Matthew McConaughey, my role model is myself 10 years from now. I will always work to improve myself because that person is someone worth chasing after. For my senior year, I chose this quote because it seemed to fit me so well. "Every morning you have two choices - continue to sleep with your dreams or wake up and chase them."


I look like a little boy in this picture, but this is proof that my mother shaved my head when I was a kid. Whenever you are feeling low about yourself, just think. Would the younger version of yourself be happy with the way you are? Is he/she really going to notice those little flaws that you pick out every day? Probably not. I could easily change the things that I don't like about myself like getting a breast augmentation or doing laser removal. And I am not going to lie. I have always had those thoughts in the back of my mind. But I realize now that my vanity is not worth going under the knife for. It's a solution to a short-term problem. We are all going to be wrinkly old sacks at the end of the day so just own the way you look! A confident version of yourself is the best version.

So, I challenge you to do this tag. You can write it in a notebook or post it online. Whatever floats your boat. I think sharing my imperfections will help others realize that we are all perfect in our own way and that's what makes us awesome!