Spring has finally arrived. As you enjoy this season of new growth and renewal, I’d like you to meet the latest woman in our You’re Enough campaign. Amy showed her vulnerability with her honest answers for this campaign and during our photo shoot, which made for some outstanding photos.
She shared her impressions of beauty and her take on being a work in progress.
“At a young age, I learned negative behaviors from my mother, who didn’t appreciate herself. I appreciated her. I used to look up at her and watch her as she sprayed perfume and curled her hair,” she said. “I thought she had an angelic beauty.”
Her mother didn’t recognize her own beauty. Amy, however, who had a deep love of fashion magazines and fashion photographers, thought of beauty as an art form.
“It took until my 30s to recognize we all have the art within us, and I, too, can look at myself and see what I saw in my mom,” Amy said.
Although she doesn’t feel beautiful every day, Amy is learning to appreciate her appearance, even when she isn’t feeling particularly gorgeous.
“I’m learning to swat away the outside distractions that tell me otherwise. I’m a work in progress, and that too is beautiful,” she said.
For those who don’t recognize their beauty, she gives this advice.
“I want you to, for just a millisecond, tell yourself someone is looking at you thinking you have the beauty of an angel. Now let that sit on your heart and believe in your beauty,” she said.
As a nurse, Amy is used to putting others first. While Amy is an aunt, she isn’t a mother – and that’s a different path than she thought she would be on.
“My life is 100 percent different than I thought it would be 20 years ago,” she said. “I thought I’d be married right after college and have kids and the suburban dream.”
She became a nurse in her 20s, and she considers that path the one she was meant to be on.
“I ended up traveling the world through travel nursing, meeting the best people, sharing stories with my five nephews, and coming into my own as a nurse,” she said. “While I often think how different my life would have been, I am sincerely grateful for where I’ve landed.”
Although she’s in a profession where she can save lives, the most powerful Amy has ever felt was when she was in college and realized the power every single person has to make a change in the world.
“In college, I was greatly involved with non-profits and volunteering,” she said. “My friend and I were very dedicated to Habitat for Humanity. We produced a dance show that raised enough money to build a home.”
Whether it’s helping non-profits or her patients, Amy’s ability to care is her superpower.
“Caring about another person is a beauty you can’t see, but they can feel,” she said. “The power to be able to care is an action that only you have control of. That control is your power and beauty.”
Amy has learned the art of embracing her imperfections – an ability that many of us still need to master. Her favorite non-physical feature about herself is her off-key singing voice.
“If you’re my patient, I’m likely going to sing to you. I’m a garbage singer, but I’ll make you laugh with the horror of my pitch,” she said.
For Amy, having beautiful pictures of herself at this point in her life was a priority.
“As I’ve mentioned, I’m single, never married, and no kids. I haven’t had many reasons to have a nice picture taken of me,” she said. “I simply want to capture where I am in this moment of my life.”
And that place she has landed in is pretty spectacular. Amy is a confident, caring, and amazing woman, and I was privileged to meet her during our photo session.
Amy is living proof that sometimes the best experiences come from none of your plans going the way you expected. If you’re in the middle of an unexpected moment in your life, I hope you keep that in mind!
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