by Adriana Dondada
I was off the social media map until about 2 years ago. I originally created IG and Snapchat accounts to document my first international vacation with my girl friends. I never posted “selfies” or solo photos; I wasn’t comfortable in the public eye. Anything I shared was with a friend or two, usually captioned with a personal message about our friendship. But then I had the opportunity to work with a womens’ online clothing store called Babes and Felines. Their clothing helped me embrace my curves by providing chic, stylish pieces in my size that made me feel as though I had effortless style. I was a repeat customer for quite some time and after expressing my gratitude for their stretchy clothing and commending them on what they stand for, they featured me as a plus size model for their “Plus Babe” line.
Although I’m not a professional model, my following then began to grow (for all the right reasons). I began attracting women on the same body acceptance and self love journey, which encouraged me to begin publicly sharing my inward journey, rather than continuing in private.
Social media can certainly impact us in a negative way, but only if we let it. It’s natural for us to compete and compare ourselves to one another. As women, we need to make sure we are comparing ourselves in a healthy, get-inspired type of way as opposed to putting others down or getting down on ourselves. We also have to be sure we are posting for ourselves as opposed to seeking validation from others. I allow social media to most definitely have a positive impact on my self love journey. I never changed the way I express myself. I post for me. Whether it be a picture of myself, a meme, a quote, or one of my own writings, I share my thoughts on a post that speaks to me, and when it speaks to others that’s cool too.
I’m so happy that we’re gaining awareness of the importance of self love, as a society. Public figures with natural confidence and those that spent years mastering their confidence are now sharing this part of themselves to influence others. Confidence stems from self love because it’s all about having faith in yourself and who you are. I’ve always been confident in who I am, but I reached an entirely new level of confidence on my body-positive journey with a new found love for health and fitness. Before I started working out I thought training and clean eating was only about changing how I look, but once I started challenging myself more and more, I learned that as much as I changed and grew on the outside, I grew even more on the inside. I had higher energy and was much more positive, I felt better about myself which helped me improve my relationship with others, and I began inspiring women of my size to have fun with fitness while demonstrating that marginalized bodies can get just as busy in the gym like the rest of ’em.
We spent at least 13 years sitting in classrooms being taught lessons that society thinks we need to know. However, one thing society failed to teach us is self love. Loving ourselves should have been a top priority in a world that is selfish and cruel. Instagram has become a tool for combating this. I may not have the largest “following”, but the quality of people I connect with is beyond comparison. We share, we uplift, we encourage, we brainstorm ideas on how to tap into our inner self and overcome life’s never ending battles. This may sound crazy, but these new found connections are how I discovered my passion and my purpose. In real life I’ve always been relatable and easy to talk to, but what I didn’t know was that this was a gift. I was immediately fueled once people I didn’t know in person started to reach out to let me know I was inspiring them on unique levels. So if you ever feel inspired by someone, tell them. No matter whether they are your friend, family, colleague, teammate, or even a celebrity. Even if you don’t believe that they’ll see your message, please tell them. You never know the type of impact you may actually have on their life, so be courageous in letting them know how they are impacting yours. My longtime friends and newfound social media friends have encouraged me to be transparent and to be more of myself, and I can’t thank them enough.
Adriana Cordova is a writer and advocate who is passionate about mental and emotional health. Follow her on Instagram @adriana.dondada and her new blog @ adrianadondada.com.
