photo captured by our dear friend @tarakoenke

When we think about body image, we generally think of our body from the neck down. We think about our arm fat, or our midsection and rolls we have when we sit down, or the fact that we don’t have a “thigh gap”. But what about from the neck up? What about our eyes, our smiles, our teeth, our ears? All of that counts too! After all, it is part of our body! But what about our laugh, would you consider that to be part of it too?

The reason I’m bringing this up is because so many people are insecure about their smile and their laugh. During my braces phase, you can definitely say that I was. That phase was a long 3.5 to 4 years, let’s just say that. My smile eventually changed, but my laugh has always stayed the same. I used to be so insecure about it because whenever I would laugh, I noticed people’s eyebrows would raise. They were shocked that a laugh like that came out of a girl like me.

Some background info: I come from a loud family, and on top of that, myself, my mom, and my aunt all have unique, LOUD laughs. And by loud, I mean really loud. My baba (grandma) used to tell us we were laughing too loud and give us a sharp, “Shhh!”. Eventually she realized our laughs couldn’t be tamed, and she gave up. I think a big part of it had to do with the fact that I married into a family that has some members with some pretty kick ass laughs too!

I’m not quite sure when I stopped being insecure about my laugh, but I can tell you it’s the greatest feeling! I do, however, think I know how I got over this insecurity. I realized that I love to laugh and I love the feeling when I’m laughing. When I’m laughing it means I am genuinely happy, and usually surrounded by people I love and care about; the people who accept me just as I am. If they can accept all of me (flaws and all) and still love me, then I damn sure should be able to do the same for myself!

Happy laughing and happy Friday everyone!