"TO ME, BEAUTY IS ABOUT BEING COMFORTABLE IN YOUR OWN SKIN. IT'S ABOUT KNOWING AND ACCEPTING WHO YOU ARE"
Ellen Degeneres (The Ellen Show)
When I finished watching the short video "Comfortable", I felt like crying. I know, it may sound ridiculous! But, apart from the fact that I'm a (too) sensitive person, it awakened in me a range of emotions and thoughts that usually come to my mind -but that I never face.
For me, it was enlightening to see the way different people react to the question "If you could change one part of your body, what would it be?"... and actually, I felt quite identified with them. But then, when we start listening to the testimonies of the kids, we realise that many of us -including me- at some point of our lives, lost that simplicity which characterises childhood. They are happy just the way they are!
Seriously, I cannot recall when was the last time I felt really satisfied with my physical appearance... I guess it was at seven. Then, someone called me "giraffe" and I started thinking something was wrong; though it was just a silly nickname. I grew up and I started wearing make up, and trying to look like my Barbie doll, which was supposed to be "beautiful". Even yesterday, I was looking at some pictures that girls upload in Facebook; considering all the things I should change to look that way (I need to have a sun-tan, stop eating certain things, exercise more, and so forth). And now that I came across with this video, I started reflecting about the misconception of "beauty" that I've held so far, and how important it is to put it under judgement.
It's not easy to live in a society which imposes us beauty patterns that are so hard to satisfy. "You must have a slim body... a pretty face... you must dress this way..." are the messages implied in most of the ads we see. Fictional models bomb us in the Media, and we -at least I- keep on comparing myself to those standards that we seem obliged to fit.
But it's never too late. Indeed, you cannot go back to your childhood. But you can start today, right now, to value all the beautiful things that you have, and to accept those sides you don't like that much as part of "being yourself". You can discover that your appearance might last a few decades, but your inner beauty will last forever!
Look at yourself in the mirror... That's who you are! A wonderful, UNIQUE human being... a treasure! Never forget that.
"IF YOU have good thoughts they will SHINE OUT OF YOUR FACE like sunbeams and YOU WILL ALWAYS look beautiful!"
Roald Dahl
