No makeup. No filter.

My double chin. My belly bulge. My flabby arms. The wrinkles around my eyes.

These are all things I’ve let hinder my blogging career at some point.

I’m not doing that photoshoot until I lose 20 pounds. I’m not wearing sleeveless dresses to speaking engagements until I have Michelle Obama arms. Go live on Instagram? Of course, not! The camera would be much too close to my face.

But eventually, I got over it.

Eventually, I did the photoshoot — before I lost any weight. I wore the sleeveless dress and risked my arms flapping like wings as I spoke to the audience. I went live on Instagram and started doing Instagram Stories, too — sometimes with no makeup.

Related Reading: How to Get Confident for Your Photo Shoot

What’s the secret? How did I, as they say, feel the fear and do it anyway? How did I conquer my insecurities? I wrote them down. Let me explain.

When I put my insecurities on paper they somehow lost their power. When I shared my insecurities on my blog and even in a popular magazine they no longer felt like a dirty little secret lording over me. Once I wrote about my insecurities they were simply a part of my story and my story is mine to control. It doesn’t control me, so neither would these so-called flaws.

Will this work for you? I don’t know. It might. It might not. But I think you should ask your therapist or a mentor if you should give it a try.

I know that I write not only to better understand the world, but also to better understand myself. And writing about my insecurities reminds me that, as a friend once told me, my dopeness is the result of all my perfect imperfections. Writing about my insecurities reminds me that I am perfectly imperfect.

Do you write about your insecurities?