Apryl K.B. Lopez's Blog, page 2

Why I Wear Leggings… And I’m Damn Proud of It

I know it’s not necessarily a new issue, but it has gotten closer to home for me in recent weeks. The issue of who should or should not wear leggings and if they should be worn at all. Only little girls under the age of 5 should wear leggings. Adult women should never wear leggings. Those are pajamas and should never be worn outside of the house. Look at their a**es in those; they’re disgusting. Look in a mirror! Why would anyone wear something so unflattering? And the list goes on. Updated picture: Still rocking my leggings! I have many thoughts that immediately come to mind, such as “This is what people choose to debate about when millions of people are starving, dying, fighting, living unclothed, being murdered, being raped…?” And the list goes on again. My next thoughts then become, “Who are you to tell anyone what to wear? Who are you to take pictures of people, without their knowledge or consent, and post it on the internet for faceless cronies to ridicule and mock?” Those people who you believe look unattractive in leggings are not disgusting. You are. I, like millions of people around the world who wear leggings, like how they feel. They’re soft, they move with the body, and they somehow don’t feel constrictive. Whether someone is petite, average, or large, leggings present a real opportunity to feel comfortable and hopefully look good. Or at the very least, feel good about yourself. As someone who has struggled with weight issues her entire life and still struggles to feel comfortable in certain clothing, I love that I can put on a pair of leggings and feel good about myself. I love that my husband can look me up and down and be attracted to me. I love that I look and feel my thinnest in a pair of leggings. I love that I can wear a tighter shirt and not see a muffin top; or I can wear a larger shirt and not look like a bag lady. That’s because leggings help smooth out some of the natural rolls and bulges. Let’s also not forget that leggings, like any other article of clothing, can be colorful and filled with unique opportunities to dress up an outfit. Or they can be basic and take the wearer from a casual work environment to a night out on the town. Leggings are versatile and give people options. Leggings are comfortable (check), versatile (check), professional (check), attractive (check), for any age (check), and any other reason you need to look good and feel good about yourself (check!). Don’t let anyone tell you that you are too old, too fat, too thin, to “whatever” to wear leggings or any other piece of clothing you want. Don’t harm others, physically or verbally, and I think you’re okay in my book no matter what you wear. P.S. To those who ridicule, mock, and take pictures of people in leggings or any type of “questionable” clothing, you are in the wrong. Instead of taking a photo of a woman whose underwear can be seen through her pants, politely and quietly point out what might be an embarrassing situation for her. Do not take a picture of it and post it on the internet for billions of people to see. That is wrong, and if it happened to you, I’m sure you would be the first to cry out that your personal space and rights were violated. Think before you press that button. #comfortable #yourself #encouragement #attractive #leggings #nonjudgment #lifestyle

2015 In Review

WordPress gives me a review of the past year. All in all, it doesn’t look bad, but clearly I need to be better! As every year seems to be (for everyone) 2016 will be my year of better change! Here are some of my goals in no particular order: Finish, edit and publish my YA novel, The Cavern, by summer. Start (and maybe finish) my sequel, The Surface, by the end of the year. Go back to my Zumba classes regularly. Make my peaceful, positive and more environmentally and animal conscious stamp across this world more felt. I have a million more goals bouncing around my head, but no one wants to read those. But I’m always interested in other people’s goals for a new year. What are you most excited about changing for yourself and the world around you? Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!!! Here’s an excerpt: Click here to see the complete report. Please follow, comment, like and all that other good stuff!

Catching Fire

Over the last few months I’ve had the luck of writing for some local magazines. Unfortunately I was given word that due to unforeseen problems the magazines, and my latest articles, are on hold for the time being. Personally this really hurts. I’ll be honest, I love seeing my name in a byline. Who doesn’t want to see their words published and validated? But there is another drawback: the people and businesses I interviewed who now won’t receive their accolades as well. I won’t reproduce all of my articles, and truth be told I’m not reproducing this one either. I want to give a (hopefully) short, candid post about something really close to my heart. My original articles will be published eventually, but I wanted to give props to a Tucson author I had the privilege of meeting a little over a month ago. 5 years ago Dennis Bracety was diagnosed with Dermatomyositis, and his entire world changed. He went from badass firefighter to being in a wheelchair and needing a feeding tube for almost a year. His kids had to become his full time caretakers with the help of his brothers, mother and firefighter friends. Everything fell apart, but he picked up the shattered pieces and glued them back together to form an even better life. With the help of his doctor, who is now as close as family to him, and his sheer will to survive Dennis has overcome his illness through numerous treatments and resumed firefighting full time. He’s also a published author. His book Fire Within: a Memoir of a Firefighter’s Will to Live has been available on Amazon for a month and already received positive reviews. If the reviews weren’t enough then the personal stories Dennis receives regularly send him over the moon. Some of the stories he told me gave me chills, but none more than a story of a young boy who received the same diagnosis as him and didn’t think he could become a firefighter anymore until he heard Dennis’ story. If that doesn’t shout “kismet” then I don’t know what does! Okay, I said I was going to keep this short, and I will! Check out Dennis’ book here. It’s an amazing story for a larger-than-life guy. I can’t wait to meet him again, and I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for him. “You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.” ~Cayla Mills Please feel free to subscribe, like, comment, etc. I’ll have another post coming soon. #firefighting #DennisBracety #FireWithin #strong #dermatomyositis #bylines

The Voices In My Head

The other day I was texting with a writer friend of mine (Alica McKenna Johnson), and I said I was jealous by how much she could write. The woman writes long, (and awesome!) books; I’m lucky if I can get my books within the publisher-accepted range of 40,000-60,000 words. Her response was perfect: “Only another writer would be jealous of the voices in my head!” How true is that statement, though?! Unless your schizophrenic (sorry!) then having these voices telling a multitude of stories is a blessing and a burden. I think most writers would say it’s awesome having an intense imagination that can create entire worlds and life histories out of nothing but the synapses in our brain. But creative types are often the most critical of their own work, and we judge ourselves by our peers’ achievements. When we judge ourselves by others we don’t always see or understand that the same person could be judging their own work and ability by us. I look at the women in my writing group who manage to pump out astounding lines of poetry in their stories, or create the most vivid images of a life lived, and I stand in awe of what they can do. I might throw myself a bone and think “I’m good, but I’m not that good”, but oftentimes I put myself down: “This is such crap! Why would anyone want to read this?” But those same amazing women push off my compliments and tell me how great my story is even when they don’t have to. They encourage me, and I encourage them. We’re all trying to achieve the same goal: write the story well. Maybe we have different outcomes in mind- publish to get a paycheck, publish for free, write for pleasure- but we all have the same wish for our stories. This seems to happen whenever I start to write a post. I think it’s about one thing, and it turns into something completely different. I started this thinking it might only apply to fellow writers and other creative types, but somehow I turned it into a feel-good, “let’s encourage each other because we don’t know what battle someone is fighting” sort of post. That’s not a bad thing at all; I’m just making an observation. Hopefully it reaches everyone on some level, and you all enjoy my semi-coherent ramblings. PS. Check out Ms. Mckenna Johnson’s wonderful books here: http://www.amazon.com/Children-Fire-2... These 2 are just the beginning; she has plenty more in store #PhoenixChild #writing #voices #confident #AlicaMckennaJohnson #creativity #bekind #encouragement #inspiration