Beautiful

People are really fucked in the head when it comes to their looks and self-esteem. I want to tell you all: just let it go. Society has fucked you up. Pop culture has fucked you up. Your friends and family have fucked you up. You fucked you up.

Just let it all go. It's a hard lesson to take. It's a hard path to follow. But no one's opinion of you matters. You look fine.

There is no perfection. There is no ideal to chase. Some people like anorexically thin people. Some don't. You are never going to catch the perfect ideal that everyone else finds attractive, because everyone else will never agree upon what is attractive.

So be you. Dress however makes you happy. Eat what you want. Or eat healthier because you care about your health, not because you care about what other people think of your waistline or dress size. Wear make-up, don't. Shave, don't. Stop putting your image of self-worth into how you perceive other people judge your appearance. Be free.

Months ago I was watching a program on Palladia--some music program like Storytellers (but not Storytellers ) where an artist talks about their song or process and then performs the song, etc. This particular episode had Christina Aguilera talking about the first time she met Linda Perry, how she came across the lyrics to one of Perry's songs and sang it to herself while Perry was in another room. How Perry heard her singing and realized the same thing I'm trying to say here: we all have fucked up images of ourselves, no matter how pretty the rest of the world does or does not see us. We all face the same insecurities and struggles. Aguilera reports she went on to record that song, "Beautiful," in only one take.

More recently, a discussion broke out in one of my circles, where one of the people involved was incredibly down on themselves, making worth statements so tied in to their appearance that they seemed unable to see anything else or to recognize the beautiful wife, family and friends who all love him just as he is.

People, I know most of you who've gotten this far are going to nod your heads and then forget all about this. But if you can find it in you to take this message and to strive towards something better then make it a part of your daily routine to accept who you are, to let go the concerns over how you look, and work on things that really matter instead.