“The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides.” — Sam Levenson, “The Beauty of a Woman”

Welcome to our third annual Beauty of a Woman BlogFest! I started this fest two years ago, after readers were beautifully responsive to a post I shared about moving past my eating disorder. Thanks to remarkable readers and writers like you all, it’s become a positive light in the blogosphere and a gift to may each year. You are all ROCKSTARS!

This week is also National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, making the theme and stories even more meaningful. As you read contributors’ words, I hope you’ll consider ways to further embrace your own inner and outer beauty. You deserve it! If the notion seems selfish or less important than other responsibilities in your life, remind yourself that the most powerful work we can do for others derives from self-nurturing. If there’s one thing our world could use more of, IMO, it’s positive role models. 🙂 Thanks, with all my heart, for joining us!

How to participate and potentially win fun prizes:

Click on the links below to read participants’ stories between Thursday, February 27th and Sunday, March 2nd. Prizes will be awarded by way of a drawing, one for each category, next week. (To read stories from the Girl Boner category which ran earlier this week, visit this link!)

To have your name added to the prize drawing:

• Comment below this post, based on the prompts at the end = 1 entry
• Tweet this post, tagging me @AugstMcLaughlin = 1 entry
• Share this post on Facebook, tagging me or my author page = 1 entry
• Participate as a blogger = 5 entries
• Read and post a comment on all of the posts below, then let me know you did so (in a comment on this post or via Twitter) = 10 entries

PRIZES: Winners from the drawing for each fest category will receive Starbucks and Amazon gift cards, valuing $5 to $50. I’ll also select two BOAW Girl Boner posts to read on Girl Boner Radio.

Bloggers: If you signed up for this category and your post is missing below, I haven’t yet received your link (or somehow missed it!). Please send it to me via email or Twitter and I’ll add it promptly. Thanks!

Beauty-FULL Contributions:

1. Kathryn Chastain Treat: Beauty of a Woman BlogFest 2014

2. Patricia Sands: Beauty of a Woman 2014 ~ Hear Us Roar!

3. David W. Walker: The Beauty of a Woman

4. Kassandra Lamb: Beauty: A Matter of Mind Over Matter

5. Barbara McDowell: Beauty in Stages:  Reflections on My Younger Self

6. Jess Witkins:  Beauty of a Woman Blogfest: 1 Billion Rising

7. Susie Sylvester: Beautiful Woman, God’s Design

8. Kourtney Heinz: BOAW: The Beauty of a Body in Motion

9. Catherine Johnson: BOAW BlogFest: Kat Apel

10. Ashley: Positively Body Image

11. Audrey Kalman: Three Beauties and a Redefinition

12. Lynn Kelley: Beauty of a Woman 2014: My Morphing Body and Mind

13. Marcia Richards: BOAW BlogFest — Where Your Beauty Lies

14. Kate Wood: Beautiful Goddess

15. Elizabeth Mitchell: BOAW The Most Beautiful Woman I Ever Met 

16. Ingrid Schaffenburg: The True Beauty of a Woman

17. Kecia Adams: Beauty of a Woman Blog Fest III: In Praise of the Selfie

18. Scott Moon: Touched by Fire for BOAW 3

19. Jenny Hansen: What Are YOUR 21 Layers of Beauty? #BOAW3

20. Mike Sirota: Redux: When Art Creates Life

21. Marla Martenson: The Beauty of Following Your Bliss

22. Dana Myles: Beauty of a Woman Blog Fest, 2014 – This one’s for YOU!

23. Shan Jeniah: The Beauty of a Woman Blogfest III – finding Beauty in a Life of Lovely Chaos

24. Sheri Fink: Embracing the Beauty of Your Dreams (Despite Fear and Doubt)

25. Eden MaBee: BOAW — Us

26. Katy Brandes: The Beauty of a Woman BlogFest III

27. Eli Pacheco: The Beauty of a Woman: Giving Props to My 3 Favorite Female Olympians (and Ashley Wagner)

28. August McLaughlin: How to Gain Beauty by Embracing Your Body — An Interview with Dr. Jane Greer*

*My entry is an interview on Dr. Jane Greer’s radio show, Let’s Talk Sex!, via YouTube. Feel free to tune in for as little or long you like. 🙂

How do you define beauty? What makes you feel beautiful? Any thoughts to share on this year’s fest overall? Remember, you have 4 days to check out and comment on all of the posts for 10 extra chances to win a groovy prize! If you do so, let me know via a blog comment below or Twitter (@AugstMcLaughlin) by next Tuesday, March 4th. Thanks again for participating! ♥