OMG, you're here .. Welcome !!!

Hey!

Thanks for coming !

You've clicked the link and now you're on this unfamiliar site. You've probably explored the website or you probably haven't. Now you're probably scratching your head and wondering " what's this passion blog about?". Trust me. I've been asking myself that same question for the past week. So let me take some time to clear up and misunderstandings.

This passion blog was designed to bring awareness to the struggles of self-love, self-awareness, self-care and wellness, and confidence among modern teenagers. The journey of self is a magical one. However, it can only be accomplished if you take the time to care for your health ( mentally and physically), loving your self ( inside and out), and being aware of who YOU genuinely are ( not who you think you are ).

Teenagers and pre-teens struggle with this concept. I did for a while too. Self-love isn't easy in a society where you're bashed for looking/dressing a certain way, loving a certain gender, having different beliefs, etc. It is easy to tell someone to be yourself and be different, however, it is hard to do that in an environment where doing so will hurt you mentally and physically. For example, did you know that a nine-year-old boy committed suicide after coming out as gay because he was bullied? NINE YEARS OLD! This is why self-love,confidence, and awareness is important.

When you LOVE who you are, when you are AWARE of what you are, and when you are

CONFIDENT about who you are, then who cares what anybody else thinks? However, like as I mentioned before, it's easier said than done.

Teenagers and pre-teens, especially, struggle the hardest.

Peer acceptance is prevalent during the adolescent age. They develop intense insecurities because the society is telling them and showing them that they aren't good enough. This issue is overlooked by society because there are more important issues affecting the teenage and pre-teen population such as teen pregnancy, drug abuse, suicide , depression, etc. However, I believe that self-love, self-awareness, etc. can depreciate all of these issues because it helps to boost the way you view yourself and your self-worth. According to research, low self esteem can lead to things like depression , anxiety, and poor decisions. The more you value, know, and love yourself , the least likely you are to harm yourself. In conclusion, I chose this topic because I wanted to highlight the issues that teenagers face with the concept of "self" and I am very passionate about doing so.

There's also a personal reason as to why I chose this topic.

IT'S STORY TIME GUYS !

For a while, I didn't know who I was and it really bothered me. I knew that I'm an African-American girl named Larissa Stephenie Richard who was born in Brooklyn, New York into a Caribbean household but I didn't know who LARISSA was. I didn't know what she liked or what she valued. I didn't know what her personality was like. She just aspired to be like people who were seen as "smart' and "pretty". She didn't know anything about who she really was. All she knew is what she wanted to be.

She wanted to have long curly hair

like this:

But instead she had hair like this:

She wanted clear skin but instead she had pimples decorating her face like Christmas tree ornaments. She wanted cleavage but instead she had the chest of a 13-year old boy ( and I promise you.. she still does). She wanted to be the girl EVERYONE LIKED so she was scared to defend herself. She didn't know who she was for a while. Her self confusion resulted in her entering a deep depression because she realized she can never look or be the way she wanted to.

After watching motivational videos and trying not giving up on herself , she decided to take advice from a random Youtuber who encouraged her to focus on herself. She took a short break from social media (which was the hardest thing a teenager could do) , she stopped comparing herself to others, and she started to take better care of herself. It took a while ( a long while .. literally 3 years) for her to accept and understand who she is and she's still trying to understand. However, when she got a clearer picture of who she is, it was easier for her to make friends , speak infant of a large group and be a risk-taker.

Honestly, I still don't know who I am completely and I'm still learning. However, I am more aware of who I am then I previously was. My self-esteem is way higher and I actually take time to take care of myself mentally, physically, and emotionally. Many opportunities have helped me to become who I am because I was able to take advantage of them ( and that's something I would've never done). I've accepted my personality and bodily flaws and I've finally accepted the fact I will never look like Beyonce. It may seem stupid but the journey of self is an amazing thing but the first step to figuring out who you are , is loving who you are.

Sources/Link:

https://www.simplypsychology.org/self-esteem.html

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/me-we/201312/10-sources-low-self-esteem