Brigid Knight.
[Part 10/10 of The Body Project]

It’s very easy to lose ourselves amidst the constant pressure from a broken world to perfectly fit the narrow, 1st world definition of what “beautiful” is. Sometimes it’s hard to accept that society’s view doesn’t matter; but God looks past the makeup and the clothes, and sees the beauty of our hearts. He created us, He loves us, and He died for us. God’s perfect idea of beauty is you, 100% genuine you. 

At a young age I became obsessed with my outward appearance. Instead of playing outside like a normal 11 year old, I would spend hours in front of a mirror and stare at my chubby body, frizzy hair, and round face. By age 13, I was begging my parents to buy me makeup and started to straighten my naturally curly hair. Insecure about my body, I wore boy’s clothes to school. 

My first boyfriend broke up with me during my first year of high school, leaving me feeling unwanted and useless. I would often eat so much food out of depression that I would make myself sick and throw it all up. It eventually reached the point where I would only eat a few bites at dinner, and then hide away in my room upset. 

During my sophomore year, I picked up the sick habit of looking in the mirror and making lists of all the things I wanted to change about my body. The scale became my best friend, and my worst enemy, all at the same time, and size-00 models became my “thinspiration”. When I couldn’t meet those goals, I spiraled into a dark place and turned to self-harm to feel in control again. 

The summer before my senior year of high school, I started to attend The Wave student ministry, and slowly came to find my worth in God instead of models in magazines, or numbers on a scale. Through the family I found at Church by the Glades, I’ve realized that God loves me, created me, and never makes mistakes. I’m beginning to feel beautiful as a daughter of Christ instead of plain as an inhabitant of our shallow, broken world. 

I still struggle with feeling confident and beautiful, and I have to challenge myself daily to think and say positive things about myself. But when I don’t feel strong enough I remember that I am made in God’s image, and although this world may not approve, He thinks I’m to die for.  

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These photos help to display the struggles that Brigid faced with body image, what she looks like without and with make-up, and the cleansing of her insecurities. 

For more information on Brigid’s story, or The Body Project, please contact me at KathleenSayer@gmail.com