#ichoosebeauty Challenge - I Choose Beauty

Register now to take the renowned #ICHOOSEBEAUTY 30-DAY CHALLENGE

...and find happiness with one photo a day.

30 days. 30 photos. 30 ways to find happiness.

It’s one-part challenge, one-part practice, one-part lifestyle — and it’s a whole new psychosocial method for increasing how content you feel with your life… even when you’ve been through the worst.

All you need are 30 days and a camera phone. I’ll guide you every single day. And by the end of those 30 days, the research proves that even if you have major depression (like I do), you can benefit from positive effects on your mood, your outlook, your attitude, your perspectives, your worldview.

Imagine taking a forced time-out, every single day, to appreciate something beautiful that you might not have noticed otherwise. Do you suppose that eventually your lens on the world might start to cast a different tint? Sure, it would—and that’s precisely why #ICHOOSEBEAUTY is so effective: by purposely focusing on the good, we actually begin to see more of it.

It’s a game of psychological optics, helping you to re-focus your eye on the abundance of beauty we all take for granted—and less on that which does not serve us. Positive Psychology researchers have found that if you notice and appreciate beauty, you're more likely to find joy and meaning in everyday life... even decrease your levels of depression.

By engaging in this simple act, once a day, you can and will begin to feel more hopeful about the world we live in and, in turn, about any situations you happen to find yourself in—which means you’ll be better equipped to handle them.

One photo. Once a day. For 30 days.

Because it’s not about changing what you see.

It’s about changing how you see it.

Read how #ICHOOSEBEAUTY helped me to survive my deep depression, and how this project originally got started.

Disclaimer: The #ICHOOSEBEAUTY Challenge is not a substitute for mental health or medical treatment, nor is it intended as a cure.

What our challenge participants are saying:

Pamela

Choosing to see beauty seems like this super easy thing, there’s beauty literally everywhere! But on bad days it’s so much harder to see because you’re so caught up in your head. Finding the beauty every day helps me to realize that even on the worst days there IS beauty.

Nicole

Focusing on the positives and happiness in my life each morning when I wake up helps to stop my anxious thoughts from controlling my mind and life. I am so thankful for the encouragement to keep choosing beauty and to know that I am not alone!

Sarah

Some days were easy, while other days I had to go out of my way, but that provided such a fun challenge to see, *really see*, the world around me. I quickly was reminded that life is beautiful. The mundane is beautiful.

Brenda

#ichoosebeauty has helped me to slow down and realize that life is too short to not appreciate this kind of beauty. It has made me a better person. It has made me a happier person. It has taught me that happiness is everywhere… you just have to look.

Lindsey

I tend to focus on what went wrong, what could improve, or those things that still need to be done. Choosing beauty has helped me to focus on the good, the successes, and those things that are beautiful in my life! It really flipped my focus and perspective.

Dawn

After one of the most turbulent years of my life, I chose to change my perspective. By looking for the good, the humorous, the beautiful and the encouraging things I encounter each day, I find it much easier to stay off of the emotional roller coaster of life.

Megan

#ichoosebeauty keeps me grounded – to know no matter how hard I’m struggling there is always something beautiful around. I look forward to posting my little slivers of beauty daily. It’s a nice reminder of how far I’ve come in my recovery journey with depression and anxiety.