Wednesday 19 March 2014

The Ugly Betty Story And Why I Want To Show Your True Beauty To The World

Everything started with a real life Ugly Betty. I'm talking about myself.

I thought for many years that I was ugly. I could see my classmates turning into beautiful teenagers as I seemed to be frozen anatomically; I only kept growing taller. On top of it, my school uniforms were always 2 sizes bigger in case I kept on growing (we couldn't afford to keep buying uniforms). I had very long and abundant curly hair I kept in a horrid low ponytail, I admit I didn't shave my legs either, I had big eyeglasses and yes, I was a big nerd. I still believe I'm a nerd but I wear it proudly now.


Not only I felt ugly, I was reassured every day at school. I was called "Ugly Betty" (from the original colombian series "Yo soy Betty La Fea"), "skinny", "whip"... to name a few. I was made fun of because of my appearance, the typical "no dancing material" (I could definitely, most certainly dance, but I wasn't being asked to). I was the never been kissed case. My first kiss was when I was 19 and it was not romantic if you're wondering but that's a whole different story.

My youngest self or "before" photo. This was my "look" until the Yearbook adventure (for aprox. 8-9 years). Sorry for the lack of older versions of me on my "Ugly Betty" state, but I just don't have any.

It wasn't until the yearbook situation that everything changed. We all needed headshots for our graduate pages and of course I had to have mine too. What a nightmare! I felt it was just going to be another mocking tool that would spread my ugliness to the world; I was not going to be able to keep it contained in school, ugh!

One of my classmates had hers done earlier and they seemed very well done, so in a last attempt to restore my dignity my mom and I saved every possible penny to hire that photographer (we were definitely not wealthy at all). I had my hair straighten and they applied makeup on me. I never saw how I looked at all. I just wasn't able to bring myself to look in the mirror.

The photographer was very sweet to me and made me laugh a lot; she made me feel comfortable and I trusted her. It was a great experience. I didn't know if I looked good at all but her treatment made me feel special and a bit beautiful that day.

When the photos arrived and (after a deep breath) I saw them, I noticed they gave me someone else's! There, in front of me was a girl that seemed smart, definitely very pretty and had a smile that shined; definitely not me! I turned to my mom and showed her what happened. With watery eyes she brought me to the bathroom mirror, placed the photo in front of me and said: "that IS you sweetie. I've seen it all along but it was time you saw it and believed it yourself as well". I spent the rest of the weekend looking at those photos; my mind was being "reprogrammed". I think that's a better word to describe what was going on in my head.

My yearbook photo. The photo that changed it all.(2000). I still wear those earrings, ha!
That was a turning point for me. I had a haircut, started tiding up my hair and slowly embarked myself onto reflecting outside what was inside; making the outside "match" the inside.

I'm not saying I'm a front cover hot stuff or anything like that; neither am I saying that you should have perfect looking hair, makeup and clothing 24/7. Heck, there's lots of days when I still don't shave my legs (during winter I need my fur coat hahaha!), I place my hair in the quickest bun, don't wear makeup and grab the first thing I find in the closet (and believe me, hubby still thinks I'm a hottie, fur coat and all). The difference is that I have self worth now. I KNOW I'm beautiful and I FEEL beautiful; I just don't have to prove it to myself anymore.

And that is why I want to show the world but mostly YOU, how beautiful YOU really are. It doesn't matter age, weight or body shape. What matters is to be comfortable with one's self inside one's self. I want to help you discover and reveal your true beauty, one photo at a time.

If any of this sounds familiar to you, please share it with me. 
If you're interested in having your own True Beauty Revelation or know someone who needs it, please email me at feladales@felaphotography.com. 
If you doubt of yourself, or think I would have to work my "magic" or perform "miracles" (I have heard that said to me before), I insist, PLEASE contact me; you will NEVER regret it!

You can read the sequel to this story on the post "I'm not Ugly Betty, now what? The beginning of a journey"

5 comments:

  1. Qué foto tan hermosa!!! (la primera por supuesto) siempre has sido bella!!

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  2. Cool Story Fela. That's awesome that you are into photography now. Totally awesome. I love the hairy leg part. I laughed.

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  3. Genial la facilidad que tienes para escribir de esa manera tan bella, siempre has tenido el don de mostrar el mundo de una manera hermosa sin importar el medio.

    Is wonderful how you write, you've always had the gift to show the world in a beautiful way regardless of the medium.

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