Beauty from the Inside-Out
From a very early age we tell our children -- you are smart, you are kind, you are enough. We want them to know their value, acceptance and beauty isn't based on their outward appearance. We want our offspring to believe that he/she is beautiful because of who he is, not because of what she does or what he looks like. Yet do we give ourselves the same freedom? 50 does not look like 25. At 25 we were thin, we were wrinkle free, we were confident. The words we have said to our children over the last 25 years, do we believe ourselves? I want to. I want to get past the images plastered on magazines and billboards, telling me that I don't measure up. I want to be confidant in the woman I have become, not pine for the girl I used to be.
This year when my college friends and I started making plans for our 25th reunion, I started thinking about all of this, how wonderful each one of my friends is. How accomplished each is, how each one of them has given her life for others and how beautiful that makes her to me. All of us is as unique as possible but we share so many commonalities. Our time together is limited, but priceless. We look forward to it every year and work our yearly schedules around trying our best to make the reunion a priority. This year when I suggested we do a portrait I got a lot of argument -- all the usual--"I am not thin enough or pretty enough". I tried to explain why I thought it was so important, why I wanted it so badly, and how I so wanted them all to be as passionate about it as me -- as you can imagine, no one was as passionate about a portrait at 50 as I was, but they did love me enough to give in. We had a blast, learning poses, setting up, meeting walkers in the park, the whole process was fun. That night, I knew I was going to love this project. Now as I have uploaded and edited these images, I am tearful with the joy it makes me feel. These ladies are beautiful! I am so thankful that they were willing to be vulnerable and let me promote their beauty and keep the editing to a minimum { no wrinkles, flaws or belly rolls were removed in the post production of this project}. I hope you all see the beauty that I do, and know that you are also Beautiful. You are smart, you are kind, you are enough.
