"You do not have to be pretty if you don't want to. It is not your job." - Caitlyn Siehl

Hey y'all, I'm back with more strap art! Everyone here at ZOX has been working on some really amazing things we can't wait to show y'all! To tide you over, I'd like to share with you a strap that means quite a lot to me and that, I hope, connects to you as well! Because, as this interesting time in our world has shown to us, connection is more important than ever; so, let's get to it!

It seems nowadays, more than ever before, there is a pressure to be "perfect," or to feel the need to look perfect, especially for women. With social media and all that it entails, it's often times difficult to feel comfortable with yourself; to just be you. The online world is simply saturated with the "idea" of a perfect woman; that to be beautiful, you must wear this lipstick, or accentuate conventionally attractive parts of your body. I've felt this pressure all throughout my life; when I was in high school, I was told my hair didn't look pretty in a ponytail and that I didn't put enough effort into makeup.

Nowadays, I do wear makeup sometimes and I do like to put more effort into what I wear, but this isn't because I want to please anyone other than myself. I wear what I want to wear because it makes me feel confident, and happy with myself. Some days, I don't want to wear makeup or put effort into the way my hair falls, and that's completely okay. It is not my job, nor is it yours, to look pretty every day of the week; we are capable of so much more than social media lets on.

In this strap, I drew self expression. There are so many ways to show off who we really are, and I think that self expression is a great start to getting to know yourself. We are capable of creating beautiful music, unique art, delicious food, and vast gardens; we are teachers, lawyers, politicians, and so much more than a pretty face. Thatis what I wanted to show through this strap; I think all of you reading this right now are amazing and incredible just being you.

Let this strap be a reminder that you are perfect just the way you are; from your head to your toes, you are beautiful and you have so much more to offer to the world than just being pretty. By just being you, you are giving intelligence, creativity, compassion, love and so much more to this world.