I AM UNIQUE! Cassie's Story My whole life I have struggled with comparing myself to others. With two older sisters, I often felt second best. In high school I fell in love with theater and would always dream of getting the lead. But the roles I wanted were always given to girls I saw as better than myself: thinner, prettier, better singers/dancers... In college I felt I had found my calling when I discovered I also loved working behind the scenes with makeup, hair and costumes. So I decided to pursue design. However, there always seemed to be a fellow student who knew more, had an ability I lacked, or was just simply more skilled than me. More often than not, I would allow this to make me feel less than. I would get down on myself and wonder why I was pursuing this stuff in the first place. This isn't to say I've always seen myself as a bottom dweller with no talent or skill. I always knew I had many of both. In quiet moments by myself I could be very confident and ready to take on the world. But the moment I saw someone with more, I would often slink into the shadows. Rarely daring to put myself out there. It's been a slow, line upon line journey to self-love, with many loving and supportive people helping to build me up along the way. But, this last year has given me a huge boost of self acceptance! I was blessed to become a mother. From the moment my daughter was born I was humbled by the feeling that out of all the women on Earth, she was sent to me. Becoming a Mother was the ultimate proof of worth to me! It helped me see that out of all the people there have ever been, there has never been anyone exactly like me. It was the catalyst that helped me start loving my own unique abilities! Yes, there will always be someone stronger than me in any one thing I may pursue, but the whole is more than the sum of its parts. My unique blend of personality, talents and passions is one of a kind. Choosing to embrace what makes me UNIQUE is the best way I know to make a difference in the world. Cassie is our eighth BEAUTY we are celebrating!! How incredibly BEAUTIFUL is Cassie?!?! Cassie is such a BEAUTIFUL, fun, happy, silly, sweet, kind and Unique woman :):) My favorite part of that day was that the girls all wanted to be called their word, not their name lol!! They were all SO PROUD of their word that they had prayed about and truly felt inspired to represent themselves, That ALL started with Cassie, with Unique :):) I was trying to make sure I had everyone's names down but the 6 women that Kelsey brought to the photo shoot I had never met!! So I was trying to remember everyone's names, and I have a terrible memory so I just kept getting their names wrong and I felt AWFUL!!!! Cassie was SO SWEET and looked at me and asked if I would call her her word, Unique. I was over the moon happy with that cuz I lOVED that for one, how COOL was that idea to call them by their best God-given trait that they were all SO PROUD of, and also it was helpful for me to not feel so stupid hahaha!! Trying to learn everyone's names and call them the correct name in 2 hours was really hard and a SUPER challenge for me. So I very much appreciated that she asked to be called Unique. She said it with such EXCITEMENT, happiness and in being helpful to me. She was very aware of how I felt super insecure about that and I just think the world of her for being so sensitive to the spirit in that moment. I LOVED calling her Unique and her face would LIGHT UP every time I did <3 <3 Thank you Cassie for realizing that I am terrible at names and for being so wonderful in helping me not feel so little, awful and embarrassed!! I LOVE how fun and outgoing she is and how unafraid she was to be her true self INSTANTLY for the photo shoot!! She has THE most awesome personality!! I LOVED photographing her and I LOVED that she wore her dark lipstick for her pictures. It's SO her and she looked soooo incredibly BEAUTIFUL!! It was also a testament to her talent and love for makeup!! Also, I think this woman can be described as the color yellow :):) She is bright, fun, cheery, funny, and a burst of light. I was THRILLED with her light and soooo thankful SHE was apart of this photo shoot!! I LOVED reading Cassie's story and feeling that I wasn't alone in feeling that SAME way. It's so hard in our day to not compare ourselves, our bodies, our lives to others because all we ever see on social media is everyone's HIGHLIGHT REELS. It's like Steve Furtick said, 'Don't compare your behind-the-scenes with someone else's highlight reels!' It's true there is always someone more beautiful, talented, happy, outgoing, funny on social media, you name it!! BUT!! There is NO ONE just like ME and there is no one JUST LIKE YOU!! I am Unique. Cassie is Unique. YOU ARE UNIQUE!! It's amazing that Cassie celebrates that and I'm so thankful for her courage, strength, and willingness to share that piece of her heart and soul with all of us. I truly gained a better view of myself as a woman, as a mother and as my own unique personality from reading her story. THANK YOU CASSIE for helping me to celebrate me and what makes me so UNIQUE & special. It's truly a blessing that Kelsey was lead by the spirit to have YOU in this photo shoot. We love you Cassie!!!! THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH CASSIE FOR BEING APART OF THIS!!!! You are truly an inspiration, an AMAZING woman and you're so incredibly BEAUTIFUL!! It was an HONOR to get to know you, to read of your journey to self-LOVING, to photograph you intense beauty and to become friends with you!! I think you are simply, AMAZING!! You can 100% do ANYTHING you put your mind to and you are going to ROCK whatever you decide to do!! You are INCREDIBLE and I just think the world of you Cassie and... CASSIE, YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!!!! <3 Alexa Taylor-Jay Ogilvie Taylor Jay Photography It is CRAZY SCARY to put your story out there for the world to see, to talk about such hard things/times. But THIS woman is so strong, so courageous and is sharing HER story with the intent to help other women see themselves as God does. To help YOU on your journey to self-LOVING!! If her story, her courage and her heart touches you please let her know by commenting below!! I JUST ADORE YOU CASSIE!!!! This photo shoot was a dual effort!! The other master photographer behind this photo shoot and idea is Kelsey Bailey Photography!! Please go 'like' her Facebook page >> https://www.facebook.com/KelseyBaileyPhoto/ and click here to view HER STUNNING PHOTOS of Cassie Firth and all her Celebration of beauty photos as well from our shoot!! >> https://kelseybaileyphotography.weebly.com/celebration-of-beauty/i-am-unique-cassies-story We had a master videographer documenting every little amazing, tender and BEAUTIFUL moment!! Please click here to see Shaun Schofield from DOZE Videos AMAZING BTS video and get excited to see allllllll the beautiful pictures, stories and the grand finale of throwing color COMING YOUR WAY!!!! Please go 'like' his Facebook page >> https://www.facebook.com/dozevideos/ View Shaun's AWESOME BTS video of our Celebration of Beauty project on his youtube.com channel Please click here to see: >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8xniy6r68A Taylor Jay Photography - my Facebook page >> https://www.facebook.com/taylorjayphotography/ Here's ALLLL the details below to the why we are posting these women, their personal stories and their journey to no longer self-hating but SELF-LOVING!!!! This is an incredible and inspiring project and we can't wait to take y'all on this journey with us!! <3 <3 >> https://taylorjayphoto.weebly.com/celebration-of-…/the-intro LIKE.COMMENT.SHARE.ENJOY!! Please Like. Comment. Share. Tag. any woman you feel could benefit from Cassie's amazing, real and raw story!!!!
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