My first knowledge of the word dynamics came from taking piano lessons. I was terrible with them as a young pianist. I would just play everything at one volume, nice and loud, with tons of sustaining pedal. This pretty much sums up the first 22 years of my life. The past six years, I have been discovering my own dynamics. Loud and soft, pianissimo, mezzo piano, piano, mezzo forte, forte, fortissimo! Mute, on rare occasions.
I have been thinking about the word dynamic a lot lately, and how it applies to the human body. Ever-changing, never static, reliant upon other elements, a constant balance of change, progression, regression. You see, though I view myself as a relatively smart person, I can be very slow about some things. I know, I know...we do the best we can with the information we are given, and at the proper time it presents itself. It finally hit me the other day, when I was agonizing over the 4 or 5 pounds I gained over the holidays, that the body is ever-changing. WHAT?! Yes, it never stops changing...it is in constant flux. Nothing ever stays still, so why should my weight?
What I have observed is the cultural desire and the personal aim for every individual to achieve some tangible level of success. "When I lose those last five pounds" or "When my arms are toned" or "When my hair is this color" or "When I have dancer's legs"... We all have these "whens." I'll be happy....when. I want to be happy with myself...whenever. Just because. Because I am, and because I can be.
So, if my body is in a constant state of change, I should LET IT. Sure, if that change all of a sudden balloons up to 10 pounds of weight gain because I haven't been listening to my inner signals and haven't been exercising, it's time to get serious, but four or five? "Come on, give yourself a break Alexis! You've been running yourself ragged the past three months taking nine credits with a lot of extra stress in between. I also happen to have a hip injury. It's also that time of the month. I have been eating too much sugar (thanks Christmas) and have not been hydrating well so it's time to get that water weight flushed out." In general, I have been resting. Naturally, my body used that time to hibernate and store energy. Over the holidays, my body asked for more sleep, and I just LET IT do its own thing. Yes, now it's time to reduce my calories and starting exercising more because I know I need to move again. But now, my body is telling me it's uncomfortable, that it needs to wake up a little, move a little more, eat a little less. I'm going to LET IT have its way there too. There is a time for quiet and a time for loud. I gave my body a good three weeks of quiet. Time to turn up to the volume. :)
Monday, January 2, 2012
Faking It--Part II
A follow-up on the olive-oil, no-makeup regimen week!
Okay, so... full disclosure. I know I said one week of NO MAKEUP WHATSOEVER...but, I cheated a little on Wednesday. In my defense, I had a statistics presentation that evening ((my final project of the semester, yay for being done and having a month off!)) so I decided I needed to look somewhat presentable. I'll have you know--and it took some serious restraint--that I only dabbed on a little concealer under my eyes and around my nose and on two blemishes. Otherwise, zero foundation, a little blush, eyeliner and mascara. Skin was still breathing, in other words.
Other than that, it has been a treat to give my skin a break. I exfoliated regularly in the shower and kept the olive oil coming. I definitely feel like I need (need is a strong word, I know...) a little eye makeup, though. My eyes don't feel open without a little mascara. This may sound silly, but if you saw the natural shape of my eyes and the way my eyelashes stick straight out (no curl), you'd understand. I feel almost drowsy when I don't have mascara on because my eyes don't open so much.
Maybe it's my imagination, but I feel like some of the fine lines and wrinkles around my eyes and smile lines diminished a bit. I had a pretty big acne breakout on my forehead mid-week, but I think it happened because my pores could finally let go!
I feel dewy fresh and clean. The olive oil leaves my skin looking glow-y and smooth. I have more time. I knocked about twenty minutes off my before-bed routine each night and plan to use those extra minutes to read or catch a few extra zzzz's.
Beauty rest is important. Mental rest is important. I think I've found a way to have both.
My plan: Worry less about makeup. If the trade-off is being late because I "needed" to put my face on before leaving the house, I'd rather be on time. I will grab a wand of mascara and my concealer to put in my purse for later and just call it a day. Makeup should be reserved for date nights and special events or just for days when I need a boost.
A great experiment! Try it and let me know what it does for you!
Okay, so... full disclosure. I know I said one week of NO MAKEUP WHATSOEVER...but, I cheated a little on Wednesday. In my defense, I had a statistics presentation that evening ((my final project of the semester, yay for being done and having a month off!)) so I decided I needed to look somewhat presentable. I'll have you know--and it took some serious restraint--that I only dabbed on a little concealer under my eyes and around my nose and on two blemishes. Otherwise, zero foundation, a little blush, eyeliner and mascara. Skin was still breathing, in other words.
Other than that, it has been a treat to give my skin a break. I exfoliated regularly in the shower and kept the olive oil coming. I definitely feel like I need (need is a strong word, I know...) a little eye makeup, though. My eyes don't feel open without a little mascara. This may sound silly, but if you saw the natural shape of my eyes and the way my eyelashes stick straight out (no curl), you'd understand. I feel almost drowsy when I don't have mascara on because my eyes don't open so much.
Maybe it's my imagination, but I feel like some of the fine lines and wrinkles around my eyes and smile lines diminished a bit. I had a pretty big acne breakout on my forehead mid-week, but I think it happened because my pores could finally let go!
I feel dewy fresh and clean. The olive oil leaves my skin looking glow-y and smooth. I have more time. I knocked about twenty minutes off my before-bed routine each night and plan to use those extra minutes to read or catch a few extra zzzz's.
Beauty rest is important. Mental rest is important. I think I've found a way to have both.
My plan: Worry less about makeup. If the trade-off is being late because I "needed" to put my face on before leaving the house, I'd rather be on time. I will grab a wand of mascara and my concealer to put in my purse for later and just call it a day. Makeup should be reserved for date nights and special events or just for days when I need a boost.
A great experiment! Try it and let me know what it does for you!
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