Beautiful Men

So for the past couple of weeks I have actually pushed this one back, but no more! It is high time I wrote about one of the most beautiful people in my life; my husband. I know, I just called a man beautiful. I understand that this is not the social norm, however, I am here to tell you that men are beautiful too. (And for those of you getting squeamish, think of it in a completely-manly-beautiful-like-George-Clooney kind of way.) Too often I feel we do not allow men to be the beautiful people they are because of some convoluted sort of homophobia that is associated with certain words...like beautiful. Ok, so, off my soap box, and on to the letter...

Dear Beautiful Man,
Day in and day out I see you struggle with yourself, both internally and externally. I worry you do not see the amazingly beautiful qualities that are so evident to me. Internally, you have strength, integrity and generosity. You are always there for anyone with a problem, and you are patient with even the most belligerent opponents. You demonstrate all the things I admire in a person. Your strength is a lot of what makes you beautiful, (and I am not talking about your physical strength). You get me through the toughest times with a smile.
In addition to all of this, you have amazingly alluring physical qualities, that I think you don't even know about. Your eyes are as bright and inspiring as a sunrise and your smile is seriously one of the best parts of my day. I don't tell you enough how amazing you look. You don't need to worry so much about all those attributes that the commercials tell you about. You are beautiful! A beautiful man with an amazing ability to make me smile. You are one of the most beautiful people I know, and I cannot truly explain that here, in this blog.... but I think you know what I mean. ;-) I love you.
--Me

Beauty Pageant

I had a couple of options for this week and I must say, I had a hard time picking one. However, I decided to write about someone I watched during a pageant. Yes folks, a pageant. Not your typical Miss America either. This was the first annual Native American Miss Fairfax Pageant held at the school where I teach. This young lady in particular was the winner, and while I am normally anti-pageant, I felt that this particular pageant celebrated the culture and talents of these young women far more than their looks. Therefore, my beautiful person of the week…

Dear Beautiful Pageant winner,
I am always inspired by the teenagers I meet that carry themselves the way you do. You take pride in who you are, and you allow others to see what they have to be proud of in themselves. You smile constantly. I think that is truly beautiful. You walk with a confidence and poise that makes you glow. Your kindness and generosity shine through, even when you don’t say a word. I know sometimes it is hard for you, and you are criticized because of the way you look, or your background, but you, beautiful one, shine through it all. I am very impressed by you and the beauty you emanate. I am so glad you have won this award, and I hope others will be inspired by your example. Keep your head held high, and your beauty showing.
--Me

Beautiful Student

Working at a high school, I am constantly inundated with young girls trying to imitate celebrities through their looks. It is incredibly frustrating at times to witness the mental and physical torture they put themselves through to be “beautiful”, but every so often, a truly beautiful student comes in, and lights up the room. The following letter is to one of my many students. This one was written with her permission. For both of our sakes, I will not mention any specifics or names for this one…

Dear Beautiful Student,
It is rare to meet a teenager like you. In you, I see some of the deepest beauty there is. You have confidence in yourself, and that, my friend, is rare for anyone. (Even me.) You display a steadfastness in your beliefs that makes you radiant. Your unique features are to be celebrated! Why would anyone want to look like everyone? I hope more girls your age learn something from you. You have so many beautiful internal qualities that only enhance your external beauty. So what if you aren’t exactly like everyone else? Believe it or not, that is a beautiful thing! Everything from your height, to your nose makes you who you are, and that is beautiful! So keep your head held high, and your eyes wide open, because that is something others admire about you…. Even me ;-)
--Me

To the Beautiful People

After a wonderfully over-indulgent dinner, and an evening of games and friendship, my husband and I walked into a bookstore to browse the shelves before heading home.  Already, I was beginning to mull over each and every thing I had consumed throughout the evening, and regretted every wonderful bite of the chocolate fondue we had devoured with our friend.  As I walked past the diet section, (from which I never buy a book), my guilt took full effect, and I began to stare at the titles printed over perfect bodies.  I felt that familiar feeling of self-loathing, and ugliness set in.  And just as I was about to propel myself into a full-fledged pity fest and vow never to eat again ...an amazing thing happened... actually, two amazing things.  One, I saw another woman at the end of the isle, looking at the very same books, and very obviously going through the very same issues.  She was by no means ugly or fat, and certainly did NOT need to be looking at diet books.  She was really very pretty...  Two, my amazingly wonderful husband came over at that moment, and kissed me on the forehead before scooting off to find his favorite book series.  That is when it occurred to me... This woman, this beautiful woman, had no one there to tell her she was beautiful.  She was alone at this particular moment of crisis, and needed the very same boost that I did.  And that, my friends, is how the idea came to me.

I am going to do my best to find a beautiful person to write to each week.  While this may not seem exciting or interesting to many of you, hopefully, some one out there will read this blog, and realize, I am talking to you.

Dear Beautiful Woman in the bookstore,
You may not see it, but you have so many wonderful features that the rest of us wish we had!  You could stop a train with that smile!  Show it off!  You do not need to be in this section of the store, looking at these over-tanned, ridiculous people.  You do not need to hide in the corner, and you certainly, do not need to feel ashamed of anything!  You are a beautiful person.  And you are what we need more of in this world.  So, show off that pretty smile, and flaunt that beautiful skin!  You are amazing, and you are one of the beautiful people.
--Me