I was born & raised in the hottest city on earth, MIAMI! Yet, it’s 95 degrees outside on a Saturday afternoon and I have on a leather jacket. In fact, on any day of the week in the heat I wore a jacket. I don’t know how I survived the heat wearing a jacket for so long without passing out but the weight of my insecurities always covered me. I was so subconscious about my skin and being underweight that I didn’t like what I saw when I looked in the mirror. I didn’t like looking at my body uncovered. Honestly, I just didn’t like “ME”. So, I threw on a jacket and it put my mind at ease to cover up my body. I didn’t always think this way about myself but when I constantly heard this in all aspects of my life, I started to believe it to be true. I believed something was wrong with my body. Until a few years later, I was invited to creative direct for Miami Swim Fashion Week and one of the models dropped out at the last minute and the designer was a dear friend of mine. She desperately asked me to walk in the fashion show for her in a two piece bathing suit. No cover up no beach jacket, just a 2 string bathing suit. Before she could get it all out, I immediately froze and I turned to her and said “I’LL DO IT!”. But in the back of my mind, all the color left my body and I wanted to break down and cry. In the midst of all my intrusive thoughts, I kept hearing my subconscious tell me “THIS IS YOUR TIME TO BREAK FREE, ITS TIME TO LET GO!”. I immediately scrambled to the dressing room to change clothes and with less than 5 minutes to get into hair & make up, I put on my bathing suit and made my way to the stage and in the midst of me walking out to the crowd my heart was beating a millions miles a minute and I closed my eyes to tell myself “YOU GOT THIS!”. Moments later I opened my eyes and began strutting down the runway. I immediately felt this overwhelming power let go of me, and that became an out of body experience. I started to feel like no one else was in the room but me and all of the lights, like I was floating. I felt amazing I felt so free, especially not with a heavy leather jacket on that was not only weighing down on my body but it was harboring my spirit too. I left that stage that day realizing that I am divinely made, one of kind and most importantly, it’s ok to love myself and my body. I LOVE ME