This week has been extremely eye-opening.
I was recently asked to be the copyeditor for my company’s blog and along with that came the request for headshots to be taken of all the blog writers.
It felt great to dust-off my rusty photography skills & to put my Mass Communication major to use!
I borrowed a coworker’s Nikon and used natural lighting to take both flattering and enchanting photos.
It was mind-blowing to experience almost the exact same conversation (virtually verbatim) twenty-one times.
Twenty one times!!
All of my coworkers would pose for a few photos, ask me if they could see them, get embarrassed at how a particular facial feature looked, and then ask me to take a few more.
After doing so, they would ask me to see the new shots, declare (with distinguishable dissatisfaction) that they found a few more flaws, that they aren’t attractive & then get embarrassed all over again.
It was heartbreaking to listen to twenty one, unique, beautiful, wonderful people feel so awful about themselves.
But why did they feel so awful?
Would they have randomly woken up one day and decided that their eyes are the wrong color or that their noses are too big without society telling them they had to look a certain way or be a certain size to be attractive / handsome / desirable / happy?
Personally, I thought that every single one of them looked beautiful.
I saw so many genuine, shining smiles and the natural light highlighted everyone’s features so flatteringly.
We are all worth so much more than what we look like or our outside appearance.
Your body is merely your vessel.
Your vessel in which you live your life, yes.
But, I believe that your soul / spirit / personality / how you treat people / how others feel around you and who you are is what gives you worth.
It was just such an eye-opener.
I saw myself mirrored in my coworkers.
Why am I always so concerned with how I look and with comparing myself to everyone else?
Why have I spent countless hours wishing to look a different way & wishing that I looked like someone else?
I should only want to look like me!
Every “imperfection,” scar and stretch mark adds up to who I was, where I’ve been & tells the story of me.
They’re proof of the life I’ve lived!
We’re all beautiful in so many different ways and we shouldn’t be comparing ourselves to others or to the perceived level of “perfect” society may lead us to believe we “should” be…
We’re all different.
We’re all in different bodies living different lives and on different journeys.
It’s almost like comparing apples to oranges.
Yeah, they’re both fruit, but the attributes of an apple aren’t (exactly) comparable to that of an orange.
You wouldn’t judge an orange on its ability to thrive in a North Eastern state of the United States of America. That’s not where they’re native or thrive. It simply isn’t comparable.
It’s the same with people. Yes, we’re all human, but we all have different ancestors and different DNA .
We shouldn’t expect ourselves to all look exactly alike, our bodies to react the same to a similar situation or to have comparable features.
Instead, we should be focusing on our positive attributes & on the things that we can change…like how we treat people, how we affect people & how to spread our love and light. We should live, love and be exactly who we are, only striving to be better than the person we were yesterday!
You are all so beautiful and I love all of you so much!
Thanks for following me on my journey and even if only for a moment, allowing me to be part of your life.
Xoxo
Stephanie
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