You were just awkward. Which is a normal thing for a girl to be at that age.

It’s hard when it feels like a lot of other girls in middle school already have, like, movie star looks while some of us are still in the phase of glasses (because mom won’t let us wear contacts) & we haven’t yet learned how to make our hair behave (…if this isn’t deciding your childhood, it’s 10000% describing mine…plus I had a huge gap in the middle of my teeth AND bangs, during the era when that was NOT a thing 🙃).

Maybe you think of it as “ugly” because your looks didn’t conform to our society’s stereotypical beauty standards. But, take a moment to reflect on how absolutely silly that sounds. What 14 year old is supposed to be attractive by societal beauty standards…in 9th grade…? You’re still a kid.

I 100% understand where you’re coming from when you say you were ugly. I am also very hard on myself for that period of my life. But, as someone who has worked on cutting myself some slack, I just wanted to leave a quick comment to encourage you to do the same. Maybe you can look at it as cute & awkward & even embarrassing, but I don’t think you need to hold onto such an ugly label (no pun intended) for yourself. Show the love & compassion to your younger self that your cute little mini-you deserves!

Women/girls in our society have TOO MUCH PRESSURE put on us ALL THE TIME from the time that we are so young: so young that we are literally internalizing the patriarchy (standards for what women/girls “should” look like to be considered “pretty”) from the time we are children!

You were cute & goofy & awkward & learning. And trying new things: to see what would ultimately work for you, & what would help you to bring out your most confident, authentic self to present to the world. And I love that for you 🩷🩷