“Unfiltered” drives people to embrace imperfections and live life to the fullest
There are many ways for a celebrity to impact the society and make the world a better place. Actress Lily Collins inspires me through writing and sharing her life experiences.
Her inspiration comes from her debut book, “Unfiltered,” which encourages her readers to stand up for themselves to have their voices heard.
She has inspired me to be myself and accept who I am as a person by embracing my pains, struggles and imperfections, in order to live my life to the fullest.
Learning more about “Unfiltered,” I quickly discovered that it is a must-read. Not only does the book talk about loving oneself and admitting one’s flaws, but it also provides resources to prevent bullying, tackling eating disorders and other important topics that need to be talked about.
Throughout this book, I felt mostly connected to the ideas of: believing in myself, trusting my intuition, acknowledging my vulnerabilities and understanding that there is no such thing as perfection.
The fascinating aspect of this book is how Collins reveals all of these ideas through her deepest secrets, like her eating disorder, experiences in handling rejection, suffering from abusive relationships and struggle for perfection. She shares everything about her life from childhood to womanhood, and the journey she took to realize her self-worth.
I love how she unpacks the idea of loving oneself for who one is in the first chapter: “You damage your own self-image when you compare yourself to others and to what you see in the media,” Collins wrote.
I found myself relating to this quote, because there were many times in the past where I felt disappointed when I saw other people look good on T.V. and social media. Only later did I realize that these public figures have hair and makeup teams, money and countless other resources to put on that appearance of “perfection.”
In addition, Collins urges her readers to acknowledge the areas that make them stand out. “Be you and embrace your differences as things that make you unique and special,” Collins wrote. “‘Different’ should be a quality we applaud and admire within ourselves and others.”
This quote from Collins helped me realize that, celebrity or not, I am still valuable and special because of who I am as a person, not because of my looks or the amount of money in my pocket.
This is one of the most heartwarming and inspiring ideas, because I have never heard a celebrity sharing these words of affirmation to others. I felt more supported and driven when I read on to where Collins gave a firm definition of perfection and how she views it.
“First of all, I don’t care who you are or what you do: no one is perfect,” Collins wrote. “Perfection is an unattainable goal, a concept that took me a while to figure out, having harmed myself to reach it at a young age.”
From my personal experience, I did try to be perfect by setting my mind to get straight A’s, taking difficult courses and doing everything by myself without asking for help when needed.
As a result, I did not get an “A” in every class, exhausted myself every day and was unable to complete my work productively. After going through it all, I came to realize that those places I was forcing myself into are not where my worth comes from; I wasted my time and energy into unrealistic goals.
My realization is confirmed through “Unfiltered.” Thanks to this book, I now know that I am enough, and my value comes from who I am as a person and what is in my heart, not from any standards that the society sets.