All the talk about teen suicides and such has brought about
self-harm consequently in conversation more so then in previous years. Now
there are more and more young girls posting pictures in fancy dresses with
scars all over their arms and a caption calling for their right to be
considered beautiful. Indeed it is both the right of those brave girls and the
rest of humanity to be considered stunning. As one who has the sadly typical scars on my wrist and
waist, I know how liberating it can be to expose that dark aspect of your life.
It feels as though you are reclaiming your body and life and this secret burden
you have been carrying around is finally relieved.
Without a doubt it is an amazing feeling that takes girls
and boys (as girls are certainly not the only ones who self-harm). It is not
exposing your pain to the world that allows that true healing; I would argue
that it is accepting that darkness within yourself and being able to look
yourself in the mirror to say, “I am beautiful anyway.” In my experience, most of
your friends will love you anyway; the real battle is accepting yourself for
who you are and what you’ve done. The true challenge is fighting for your own
right to be happy. You are beautiful and anyone who says otherwise has
insecurities of his or her own to deal with; that is already fact but is it one
you ready to believe?
Personally, it took a lot less time to own my story and tell
people about my struggles then it did for me to learn that I deserve to be
happy. Wallowing in the “the world doesn’t accept me so F it,” state is
addictively easy and is a wonderful excuse to never learn the really hard
lessons. These involve more work on your part then society because, in truth,
it is not you against the world, rather you against yourself.
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