Project Finding Beauty

On Loving Myself Just As I Am

Posted on by Khaya Ronkainen

To me, being old and beautiful are not mutually exclusive, regardless of the modern society’s unrealistic standards of beauty. 

Loving myself just as I am.

My essay, I. Am. Beautiful., won a third place for the 2022 Body-Positivity Essay Contest. You can read it at Navigating the Change.

Once again, thank you Kathy Garland and Keisha D. Edwards at The Real Peri Meno for this encouragement to tell my stories.

Yours faithfully in those Then & Now photos!

On days I’m tempted to complain about weight gain, I remind myself that an elephant trunk weighs far more than I do. Yet an elephant is comfortable in its own skin. How’s that for some perspective! Mind you, there are days I still complain, because I refuse to buy new clothes.

Project Finding Beauty

Looking Up

Posted on by Khaya Ronkainen 
I'm starting to look up again.

backstory: With the war raging nearby, I have no choice but to tightly wrap around my grief like a warm scarf given to me with love, put on my shoes and go outside. Because who knows, if the sun will shine tomorrow! This is to say, I’m starting to look up, search for beauty again, more so now that it hides itself from me.

So, I’m slowly returning to blogging. But I might be less interactive than before as I’m still trying to process it all. That doesn’t mean I’m not reading your blogs though and appreciate the comments you leave here. Thank you for your support!

How are things on your side? Where do you find beauty, these days?

PS: A few days after drafting this post, I came across this article “Feeling Pressure to Grow from Grief.” It was as if the author had read my thoughts. This article was the beauty I found that day, and it goes to show that beauty comes wrapped in many forms. Many thanks Rommy Cortez-Driks for introducing me to What’s Your Grief, it has become one of my go-to resources.

Project Finding Beauty

Writing is Joy

Posted on by Khaya Ronkainen 
 Indescribable joy I experience, when writing.

backstory: I join the chorus of many writers who sing, “Writing makes me happy. When I write, it feels like I’m doing what I was born to do.” It’s truly a joy to return to some of the work I haven’t touched for a long time. I feel energized and motivated as I rework these drafts. One day, they’ll be free from the shackles of my infamous Unpublished Work folder.

I’ve also been getting some nudging from unrelated sources. For example, I was recently listening to a TV interview with a Finnish writer, who has written and published quite a lot of books. When she said, “A writer’s job is to write books and publish them…” a penny dropped. It was as if I was hearing this for the first time.

You also probably know by now that I can be my own worst critic. I’ve written about this here, for instance. That’s why I found this episode, A Writer’s Guide To The End of Self-Doubt, on Joanna Penn’s podcast with William Kenower so encouraging. Penn’s podcast, by the way, is my other go-to resource. If you are writer, check it out!

But enough about me. What gives you immense joy? It doesn’t have to be about writing or creating but life, in general. 🙂