Make an Effort Mondays

This is better than I looked for all of 2017.
And I look drunk.

Hi. I'm Becca. I'm a writer and an executive assistant at a non-profit in New York. I'm also a staunch liberal feminist living in the US today, so it may come as no surprise to you, oh reader, that 2017 was pretty brutal on me. I watched a man whose political leanings, policies, and behavior towards women I despise be sworn into the most powerful position in this country, and it's all been downhill from there.

But this blog isn't about that. It's about how I marched and wrote postcards and got depressed about the news to the point that I stopped taking proper care of myself. People get busy and depressed and don't take as much care of themselves as they'd perhaps like to for a million different reasons every day, my dear reader. It doesn't have to be political. I'm pretty sure everyone, at one point or another, has looked in the mirror and thought, "I don't feel as good as I know I can," or "I think I've let myself go a bit."

That's where I am.

I look in the mirror and see a woman whom I love, but who could use a little love, too. I see someone who can't remember the last time she styled her hair or wore something nicer than jeans with only one hole in the inner thigh (chub rub is real, y'all) out of the house. And while my worth doesn't come from my appearance, I do know that I feel more confident and energized and expressive when I put a little more time and care into my appearance. When I look good, I feel good. Don't you, reader?

So this year, for me and me alone, I thought I should try a little harder when it comes to my personal appearance. But for you, reader, I'll document that year here.

I want that confidence and that energy. But I also don't want to feel like a slave to some societal ideal of what is or isn't a woman. I know I'm a woman and that's that, thank you very much. So I'm going to try harder to express myself as me: a quirky, loud, curious woman. I also know that it's unrealistic to think I can doll myself up every single day.

But one day a week? I can manage that.

And that's what Make an Effort Mondays are. On Mondays, I'm going to make an effort. Maybe it will somehow miraculously change my whole life. Or maybe I'll just feel a little bit fancier and better on Mondays. Either way, dear reader, here I go.