The picture above is of me. My name is Samantha, and I was born with seven fingers. It is a condition called ectrodactyly. I like to think that something as insignificant as the number of digits on my hand has remained insignificant in my life, but to say that would be to be blatantly lying to myself. Multiple therapists have told me that my left hand has been the “root of my issues”. I have suffered through self-injury, incredibly low self-esteem, crippling depression, and OCD that changed my life forever. I’m overweight, and for so long, I let a stupid number on a scale control my thoughts. Our society—a society focused on “let’s make ourselves better, prettier, skinner, stupider, more attractive to the opposite sex” and NOT on “let’s better the world with things that actually matter”—crippled what I thought of myself and others for so, so long. Yet, today will be the day that I never judge myself or anyone else. Today will be the day that I don’t let the stupid things we’ve been brainwashed with—you’re not skinny enough, pretty enough, witty enough, attractive enough, sexy enough—control me. I am my own person. I am more than my demons, more than my struggles, more than my seven fingers. I am the things I love, the things I am passionate about. I am beautiful, and, in the end, we all are. I hope that you can find it in yourself to see that you, too, have the power to resist this crazy world we live in.
My tumblr is: http://lipstickonmycoffeecup.tumblr.com
