The Us Project

One thing that I find myself struggling with fairly often is avoiding falling into the comparison trap. With social media becoming such a prevalent part of my life, I find myself constantly exposed to a whirlwind of “wants”. Wanting to be thinner, but simultaneously more toned and muscular. Wanting to be faster. Wanting to be prettier. Wanting to have ALL the ridiculously expensive clothing I see on the fashion blogs I read. Wanting my photography to be better and never feeling like its good enough.

With all these wants, there isn’t much room for happiness.

It’s easy to get caught up in a world of things you aren’t and things you don’t have- especially when most social media platforms are imaged-based and depicts the highlights in everyone’s lives. Oftentimes, I make the mistake of assuming that those highlights make up the entire reel of everyone’s day. I see beautiful selfies with girls wearing flawless makeup and my self-esteem can take a big hit. The same goes for anything I’m working towards bettering myself at, whether that be cooking, food photography, my small business, my body, school. The list can go on and on and my insecurities cangrow more and more if I let them get the best of me.

That’s why, I am proud and excited to share Soffe’s #TheUsProject campaign to challenge the comparison trap and start a movement that aims to encourage young women to focus on each other, those who give them strength, motivation, and encouragement and essentially promote community over competition. Soffe stands for a brand that celebrates the collective strength of young women and wants to create ways to bring them together in support of their shared goals. Instead of constantly comparing ourselves and becoming wrapped up in jealousy of those “wants” (which studies have shown lead to decreased intimacy and more shallow relationships), #TheUsProject aims to use social media to bring us together instead of pitting us against one another, or in my case, against myself.

Together, we can build a more beautiful picture and build each other up to reach our maximum potential!

While Soffe and I are doing all we can to promote awareness for this campaign, we would love your help and participation! To help spread the word (and possibly win some AWESOME gear from Soffe), post a photo of yourself and your friends on Instagram and tag #TheUsProject and myself (appleofmyeyeblog). We can’t wait to see how you and your best girlfriends support each other!

And here’s my contriubution with this super sweaty, makeup-less photo that I took with some of my housemates after we conquered our first 10 mile run EVER! There is no way I could have gotten through all those miles without their continues support and presence and I am beyond thankful for them. I love you Taylor and Lana! (A special shout-out to our neighbor Tom for his manly support as well and our foster dog, Charlie, who ran outside and insisted on being in the photo as well)

Learn more about the movement here: #TheUsProject movement

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Soffe for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.