130/365 - Pioneer woman

I've been reading through the Little House on the Prairie series with my kids.  It's interesting to consider the many luxuries we so often take for granted in everyday 21st century living.  Obvious things come to mind, like running water, flush toilets, cars, electricity, more than one pair of shoes.

Then there's birthday gifts purchased last-minute from Amazon Prime because they offer free 2-day shipping, or a box of organic fruits and vegetables delivered to your door every two weeks, with online substitution for the grapefruit you despise and the pears you'd rather have that week instead (choice of Anjous, Bartlett, or Bosc).

And then I think about makeup.  These pioneer women never wore makeup or contact lenses, or used a hair dryer, or wore a Victoria's Secret push-up bra.  God only knows if they owned a pair of tweezers!  It makes me wonder when women started feeling the need to put on a different persona for others to see.  Probably about the time a full-length mirror became a household object.  Surely by the time lighted magnifying mirrors came around.

I'm not going all crunchy granola, wearing bras made out of men's underwear or anything, but I have begun to find some freedom in a freshly washed face and extra comfy clothes.  I even go sans bra every now and then, sometimes even in public.  If you know me, you know that really isn't a huge feat.  Or huge in any sense of the word.  But I am more comfortable in the skin I own, knowing I don't have to put anything on to be loved.  In the case of my beau, that's true figuratively or literally.