You are beautiful. Yes, I am talking to you.
Beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. It comes in all colors, and it comes in all ages. It does not discriminate. It is everywhere. Beauty comes in the form of having confidence, and taking care of yourself. It is on the inside, and it is on the outside. Sometimes you can see it, sometimes you can't. But it is always there.
Beauty does not mean starving yourself, or losing a lot of weight. You are just as gorgeous at a size 4 are you are at a size 14. If you take care of your body, you can be beautiful at any size, and you are.
Beauty is famous. Beauty is anonymous. The cashier at the supermarket is just as beautiful as the model on the runway. You are just as gorgeous as the movie star on the red carpet. Your jeans and hoodie make you look just as stunning as the designer dress.
Emotion is beautiful. Friendship, love, happiness, all of these things are beautiful. Even difficult times can be beautiful, because they make you strong. And guess what? Strength and courage are beautiful too.
You are just as beautiful with your natural hair color. Your freckles are beautiful. Your scars are beautiful. Your smile is beautiful. Everything about you is beautiful! Your eyes, your ears, your nose, your arms, your legs, your stomach. Beauty is unique and original. Be yourself, because yourself is always the most beautiful thing you can be.
We are beautiful, and we are everywhere. Look around you - the world is full of us, and we are beautiful. We are all insecure. I feel like the biggest hypocrite in the world writing this post, because I know that I don't always feel very beautiful. I am just as insecure about my looks and my personality as I'm sure many of you are. And sometimes, I need someone to remind me that I am a beautiful person. But you know what? I AM! AND SO ARE YOU! So this is your reminder - You are a BEAUTIFUL person. I want everyone to look in the mirror and SAY IT!
We fight against the media, we fight against society, and perhaps sadder than both of these, we fight against each other for the right to be known as beautiful. But if we stand side by side and acknowledge the fact that we all are beautiful, none of those things can takes us down. If ever you have considered recommending one of my entries, please, please make it this one. Send it to someone you love. Show it to someone who isn't feeling beautiful today. Remind everyone...
I am beautiful.
You are beautiful.
We all are BEAUTIFUL!
~Jessica
*Apologies to those whose photos I lovingly swiped off of google to make my point.
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Comments (275)
Definitely something that I needed to hear, and something that I imagine many others need to hear too.
Now, if only we (women) could stop being bitchy to one another. That would be a vast improvement. :)
@decembriel -
It's awesome that you've been looking at yourself in a more positive light. You know that I've been pushing for change in my life, and so much of my negativity focuses on myself, and it's time I get rid of it. This is something that everyone needs to hear, from anyone who will say it.@hubbaduh -
Aw, thank you, that makes me feel like I've done something right.@VersaGratis -
It's so true - as if it's not enough that we are faced with the stereotypes and the media and the expectations of society that are impossible to ever live up to, we are always going head to head with each other. If every time a girl called another girl ugly, she told her she was beautiful instead, the world would be a better place, and we'd all be more secure with ourselves.@Jux2p0ze -
Wow, give me a moment to wrap my head around everything you just said. Haha.You're right in saying that beauty is more than perfection or acceptance, and that we all judge beauty in our own way. Beauty is terribly subjective, both in its physical and more personal forms. I think this contributes a lot to the insecurity so many of us feel - it is impossible to be conventionally beautiful to everyone, because everyone interprets that convention differently. And who is to say who is right and who is wrong? There is no right and wrong, only difference. But then, on the one hand, who are we to judge, anyway?
I also agree that there is a balance of beauty and ugliness, but I think that the ugliness, in a way, is also beauty. For example, you mentioned the idea of understanding and accepting our faults and ugliness (which also are subjective terms) - but by accepting an "ugliness" about ourselves, we can turn it into beauty. By accepting these things, we can gain comfort, clarity, and confidence which makes us all beautiful because of our uglinesses, not in spite of them.
@Lost_In_Reverie - I cannot dispute what you said. I try not to think of turning positives into negatives, as it dilutes the power of why it's so hard to come to grips with it. Flipping the switch doesn't suddenly make the person feel any better...that takes years of living to really grasp the rough edges, wear it down, and smooth out to comprehend. I think the Serenity earned from that experience lends more to the completeness of the person. Those two, serenity and experience which are truly hard-earned, can only be understood by those out of their youth.
There's a great story about a monk who travelled through a forest with a prince and his entourage. Coming across an ancient gnarled tree in the middle of the path, the prince's palanquin could not get around it so he had to disembark so the men could disassemble the frame and go around it. Asking the monk, he said, "Is this not an ugly tree? It's too tough to cut down, it's too gnarled and twisted, it bears no fruit, nor offers shade."
The monk replies, "On the contrary...it is perfect."
I'll let you ponder that one ;) Nice chat.
@point_of_no_R3turn -
Thank you!@La_dolce_vida -
Thank you so much. Of all the posts I've written, this is definitely the one I most want everyone to see.@Jux2p0ze -
You're right - it's not an instantaneous change that can be made. Accepting and understanding yourself takes so much time. But I think it's something that you can do in little pieces, and I think if everyone could just wake up in the morning, look in the mirror, and tell themselves they were beautiful, it would make a change in them. I won't pretend to grasp the full meaning of the story you posted, because I am not as great of a philosopher as you seem to be. Instead, I will offer (though perhaps unrelated) one of my own.I have always hated my smile. Strange though it may sound, I always felt more attractive when sporting a serious look than smiling. Then I got my current job where I am forced to smile throughout my shift. When I first began, it was difficult. I wasn't used to it, I felt awkward. My cheeks and jaws and teeth would hurt at the end of the day from forcing them into the unknown position for so long. I've been working there for almost a year now, and I've noticed that I smile a lot more. And I think my smile can be cute. Sure, some days I spend too long forcing it and my face begins to hurt, but so many more days, it has finally started to come naturally. You're right - we can't make the changes all at once. There is no switch to flip, and it's hard to accept ourselves. But if we go little by little, each day, I feel like we can all get there.
Back to the monk and his tree... we are all beautiful and perfect when we are being ourselves, and doing what we are meant to do - it is the people who wish us to be different and want to use us and see in ways that are not our own that find us ugly and flawed. And they project that onto us, and make us feel ugly and flawed.
We aren't. We are beautiful.
I misrepresent myself. I'm not a philosopher or a know-it-all. I'm sure I come off as pompous, but I just type that way :) But like you said, change happens in giant fits and also gradually. I like your piece very much and feel you are already on an interesting path toward whatever kind of realization people call things. I think there are too many people that coddle and coax one's "philosophy" instead of providing a constructive challenge. That's the only gift I can offer a stranger.
Keep up the writing.
what are us men not beautiful??
@ldjucb3 -
b/c you're handsomeThis is a really nice post
nice, really, really nice.
probably better adjectives as well.
It made me feel kinda good, which is saying a lot.