Why am I expected to look “good” when I’m merely going to school? Who am I even disappointing if I don’t look pretty? Why are we so obsessed with looking “pretty” all of the time? What is the need for me to look glamorous in class, or at the bank or at work? Don’t get me wrong, feeling pretty feels great, but if you look your best every day, then it’s not really your best anymore, is it?

Once you abandon the need to be pretty all the time, you gain a sort of freedom that can’t be achieved anyway else. To accept your being as one that sometimes looks good and sometimes looks bad (whatever that means), is such a liberating act.

It’s also a defiant and revolutionary one. The popularization of women shaving their legs can be traced back to razor companies wanting to expand their market and become even more profitable, so they convinced women that their legs and armpits should be shaved in order to be clean. Think about it – all of our insecurities are created in order to be monetized. Hairy eyebrows? Look at these amazing tweezers! Straight, boring hair? A wonderful curling iron! Curly, unruly hair? Buy this new straightener! Oh no, hair heat damage leading to frizz? Here’s a million hair products to fix this! Short lashes? Here’s some amazing, lengthening mascara — now waterproof! Every time you give in to the produced and packaged insecurities, you’re lining the pockets of rich men who have made a career in making you hate your body by pitting it against others. Most of society’s desired features are rooted in eurocentrism, anti-Blackness, and other forms of discrimination and prejudice. Examine why your insecurities are what they are; they don’t come from nowhere.

Besides, having insecurities is part of being human. They suck, but they’re kind of needed. Be honest with yourself for a second: if your nose was the shape you wanted it to be, or your skin was completely clear, or your eye color changed into what you think is beautiful, or your clothes were finally the size you’ve always wanted them to be, would you finally be happy with yourself? Or would you find new things to dwell on?

Find a neutral, peaceful approach to your body. It does not owe you, or others, beauty. Once you let go of wanting to appear beautiful all the time, you can spend your energy elsewhere, doing things that make you content. And when you’re truly happy, that’s when you look your best.