"Confident" by Demi Lovato

Okay, here's that Demi Lovato song I was talking about last week in the Paper Bag post. As I've said before, Demi Lovato recovered from an eating disorder and she also struggles with Bipolar Disorder, as well. She's done a lot of work on herself in order to be happy and accept her body the way it is - and it definitely shows. Demi did a semi-nude photo shoot once, as a way to say, "Hey! I'm beautiful and my eating disorder didn't destroy me." People gave her a lot of shit about it, because even while healthy, Demi Lovato is fairly fit. But, as an also fairly fit former-ED sufferer, I can tell you....no matter how thin/fit/beautiful you are, taking pictures and liking them - or even accepting that you don't look disgusting - is hard.

Anyway, so I got promoted at my job and I've been trying to look more professional. And yesterday, my boss gave me a compliment, to which I replied, "I'm trying." And he said "I've been noticing you've been trying a lot lately. It's good." I mean, I took the compliment and thanked him but it made me wonder....how lousy did I look before my promotion? I thought I just looked normal but apparently, at least once in a while, I looked kind of frumpy. Which I understand. I still wear no make-up most days but I always do my hair. And I'm trying to spend more on myself because I'm always telling others to "Treat Yoself!" but I hardly ever practice what I preach. I've been feeling a lot better about myself since I started doing that, so apparently that shit works. Self-care works, people!

My son - poor soul - seems to really like contemporary pop music (i.e., Taylor Swift, Meghan Trainor, Ariana Grande, etc.) so I stumbled upon "Confident" while clicking through his music videos (which have completely ruined The Husband's recommendations....so file that in the "win" pile). It's a very powerful song - Demi's been collaborating with Fall Out Boy a lot and you can definitely see the influence in the opening music. It's definitely what I'd call a "Girl Anthem" and all you ladies out there should use it as such. Just consider the words in my favorite verse:

I used to hold my freak back

Now I'm letting go

I make my own choice

Bitch, I run this show

So leave the lights on

No, you can't make me behave

Remember that everyday and you'll be good. I'm loving the video, too. Because it ends with the girls turning the tables their oppressors. In related news, I'm reading a really great book with similar themes - "Becoming Dangerous," which is a series of essays compiled by Katie West from Fiction & Feeling publishing. I highly recommend it.

"Confident" Video