Today's beautiful moment came as a revelation. I went to Zumba today, and I was feeling a bit uncoordinated. There were a lot of new moves and the instructor is an impossibly good dancer. We all pale in comparison. One woman in particular was making me chuckle. Her arms were flailing so spasmodically; I admit that I looked at her whenever I needed to feel better about my own attempt to recreate my instructor's moves (who, by the way, looks like Jennifer Lopez).
Speaking of J-Lo, when I got home I wanted to find a song by her that we danced to in class. I found the video on YouTube and was soon sinking lower in my chair as I watched her looking absolutely perfect, wishing I could just be her for one day. I can't believe I'm admitting this: after all this time writing about how to redefine beauty, I still want to look like Jennifer Lopez.
But as I watched the video, the absurdity of the life it portrays hit me. I could just see the hours she must have spent in hair, makeup and wardrobe. I laughed at the depiction of rich young rappers sitting by a pool with half-naked women lounging around all over the place.
And here's where the revelation occurred: I realized I would rather be in a room full of housewives and moms, flailing their arms and laughing at how they couldn't keep up with the mambo steps, then having to do twenty takes of the same hip roll until it looked sexy enough. I would rather be comfortable in my lounge pants than have to parade around in skinny jeans because I was expected to. Sexiness all of a sudden feels like a lot of work, and I have decided I really like the freedom to look how I look!
It was a beautiful revelation.
Have you had any revelations today?
Honestly, I don't think JLo is doing anything uber sexy that a normal woman couldn't do... it's all about the confidence behind it! I agree with you though, I'd rather just have confidence in my every day freedom and movements than have to be "perfect" for media's sake.
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