I wish you could know that beauty is not pain. That you don’t have to pluck, starve, or tear yourself apart to be acceptable. You don’t have to shove your foot into heels. You don’t need long, dark eyelashes. You don’t need silky hair.
I wish you could know that you aren’t defined by your size. That it is beautiful to live. To feel. Confidence is more beautiful than a “mask”. You don’t have to spend hours in front of the mirror. You don’t have to shape every brow and cuticle to perfection. Let your hair grow untamed. Let your natural colors shine through.
I wish you could go out in the morning without apologizing. Without apologizing for your unbrushed hair. Or apologizing that you haven’t put on makeup. That you could live and laugh without worrying about the wrinkles. That you could wear your stretch marks with pride, knowing your body has grown and created life.
Your body is magnificent. No matter what the billboard tells you. Or the people at church or the movies you watch or even your family and friends. You don’t have to wait until your next diet to live. You don’t need to diet.
You don’t even need to be beautiful. Because your life itself is magic. Your ability to live, to learn, to grow. Your ability to create. Your body is powerful, strong. It heals and learns. It wants you to love it.
Your body doesn’t exist to impress. It is your instrument. Your vessel for doing what you want to do.
So be you. Be human. Be loving and kind. Be imperfect and blemished. Be wrinkled and lived in.
Because being you is the best beautiful you can be.
