You're listening to the Water Into Wine podcast hosted by Grace Valentine.

Hello, everybody, and welcome back to another edition of the Water Into Wine podcast.

I'm your host, Grace Valentine.

And today I'm going to be talking about that feeling we all get as women when we don't feel pretty enough.

Right now, I've been honestly struggling with this with my skin.

I've had this like thing called melasma come back, which is basically like a hormonal

discolored thing on my face in different parts of my

body. And I've had, you know when you have an insecurity and then even your friends, like they don't

mean anything by it. I was recently somewhere and someone was like, I didn't know you had a birth

mark right there. And I'm like, oh my gosh, it's been something wrong with my skin. And I've done that

to people. So I do not hold anyone.

Like there is no anger I have for anyone who said that. I've had multiple friends do it. And it's annoying because I will cover it with makeup. And somehow during the night it will come off. And I'm like, oh my gosh, you have a birthmark? And I'm like, shut up. Like, please don't bring that up. But we all make that mistake. And it's been something I've been really insecure about.

And I know even especially with summer so close and spring here and people

wearing less clothes i know i've been showing with body image if i'm being honest too i don't post photos

myself often and sometimes yes it's because i don't take photos often anymore but i can get really

insecure when i start looking at a photo of myself and i think it, you know, when you're in high school and you take a

photo of yourself and then you try to edit a little, but you're looking at it longer, and then you just hate it more and more. And you see your insecurities and you see the spots that you especially hate like for me I'll see like my skin or I'll see like my arm fat and I'll just get more

and more insecure so for a while it's been easier for me not to post photos of myself

but honestly I'll see like my skin or I'll see like my arm fat and I'll just get more and more insecure. So for a while,

it's been easier for me not to post photos of myself. But honestly, I feel in a way very convicted even about not doing that because I think about y'all. And I'm like, y'all are posting photos of yourself all the time. I don't need to be insecure. I just need to post photos that make me happy. Like make Instagram casual again. Like don't over edit anything. Don't feel the pressure to look perfect,

but to realize it's about connecting and not competing that I don't have to prove myself when I post a photo myself, but I don't need to sit there and be insecure. And so that's something I'm so working through, especially with my body image, especially learning things a lot. And as someone who in my life, part of my testimony is

truly struggling with insecurity. It's truly feeling like I wasn't pretty for being bullied

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