Kereen Getten - Isnt it time everybody had their stage?

"I am too dark, too pale, too big, too skinny, 

my hair isn’t straight, my lips are too big and my nose too flat”.

My name is Kereen; I am a mother of one. One beautiful, handsome, funny, talented and intelligent little boy. I’m bias, I know, but he really is. I’ve been writing since I was eight years old, it’s my passion, and my escape, my torment and my relief. When I was in school, my stories would be handed around the school, the friend I originally lent it to, said she gave it to another friend, who gave it to another… 

My English teacher told me “if you ever do anything with your life, write”.

My writing is very personal to me, and hopefully will strike a chord with you too. I have very strong views on bullying and racism and self-esteem, I believe that good people doing good acts should be celebrated, and if you have a talent, you should use it.

But I was never confident enough in myself or my writing, In my mind I was never good enough, never pretty enough, never, enough.

Every day we encounter something or some-one reminding us that we just aren’t good enough. From the moment you are born you are taught how to act, how to behave. As you get older we are pressured into looking a certain way. Image is everything, and what you are born with, is never good enough.

Media constantly brain washes us into thinking we are never the right size, never the right colour and never the right shade. If we buy this product it will fix everything, if we just lose some weight we will look perfect, and plastic surgery has all the answers.

To be pretty society tells me I have to have long hair, I must be slim but my butt and my boobs must be big. My skin must be light, my nose must be straight, and only then will I be noticed, only then will I be happy. These are the pressures that young women have to face every day from the moment they wake to the last second before they sleep. Is it any wonder we struggle with bulimia and Anorexia? Is it any wonder creams to lighten your skin is a multi-million pound business. Times newspaper reported that the weave industry makes £65 million in the UK alone. We are victims of our own insecurities, we get angry at the pressure we are put under, yet we still allow ourselves to we fall into the trap and we continue to live the lie.

Isn’t it time we stopped competing to be some-one else, and start loving ourselves as we are, why don’t you make it your duty to tell someone today that they are beautiful.

P.S Brit Writers' readers, you are beautiful.