Pretty Is Just A Word.

lindsay-202

It's 2 in the morning or 8 in the evening and that brain of yours just won't stop the noise. Your eyes fixate to every bump and every spot and every little thing out of place- everything not considered beautiful.We fight it. We try to ignore it, but it's on every screen, on every page, in every lackluster paragraph. This thing called pretty is nothing more than an adjective. This word is used to describe something that is supposed to be more than normal or average when normal and average are beautiful.The world tries to manipulate us into thinking possessing a pretentious or grandiose facade is what is pretty. I've got not so surprising news! This world is wrong.No amount of advertising or fixing could make you any more pretty than you already are. In order to truly be happy, you have to love the way you look in your natural state and not be ashamed of it. You have to embrace it and not be scared to flaunt it every once in a while.I can't tell you how many times in the last few years I wish I could look "prettier." I compared myself to the next girl and the girl next her, and I think you get the idea. During that time, my life looked colorless and dull. I was in a constant state of unbearable sadness. But, there's beauty in everything.It wasn't until I searched and searched for happiness in myself that I truly felt pretty. I realized that makeup and filters didn’t make me feel pretty when I put the phone down or the mirror away. I felt like I was deceiving the world and myself.God created us in his beautiful image, so why hate the way we look? I always tell myself that comparing your beauty to another's is lacking pure love for the Lord because our God is beauty, and we are all so beautiful.So, that spot on your chin, your hair that seems to never stay tamed, your asymmetrical eyes or ears, or your crooked smile are what make you you.If you don't hear this often enough, I'm telling you right now- you are pretty. No matter if you want to hear it or not. You are pretty.Remind yourself of this when you are feeling down in the dumps and need a little pick-me-up:Song of Songs 4:7"You are altogether beautiful, my darling; there is no flaw in you."

words by Tiffany Campbell and photo by Ivy Hansen