Everybody's Beautiful

Urban Dictionary definition of "teen-age girl"

The Teenage Girl is possibly the absolute stupidest, most materialistic, and shallow kind of human there is, and by definition the easiest to make money off of.

As a senior portrait photographer,  I  make my money mostly off of teen-age girls.

They put their faith in me to take pictures of them that they like.

That's a pretty tough job description, and it's not always easy. Sometimes it's impossible.

Girls today are so critical of their appearance - much more so than when I was in high school.

This was my high school yearbook picture.  I had my Dorothy Hamill haircut, my onyx earrings and a simple peach jersey top.   There were no other pictures. This was it.  It was an honest picture of what I looked like on a daily basis in high school.  I was not the class beauty queen.  I was in the nerdy group.


When someone comes to me for senior pictures,  my goal is to take honest pictures.
When they try their best to put on the smile they've practiced in the mirror at home,  I try to get the real, honest smile that their mom and dad know and love.

When girls are uptight,  my job is to relax them.
When girls are afraid,  my job is to put their minds at ease.
When girls don't think they're beautiful, my job is to show them that they are.

Back in my youth, there was a song that I loved by Ray Stevens called "Everything is Beautiful".  Released in August 1970, it took home two Grammy awards that year.  The famous lyrics center around the following words:

Everything is beautiful
In its' own way
Like a starry summer night
Or a snow covered winter's day
Everybody's beautiful
In their own way
Under God's heaven
The world's gonna find a way

I truly believe that everyone is beautiful.  I don't think I could do this job if I didn't. 

But the world today often teaches something very different.

"There is nothing more rare, nor more beautiful, than a woman being unapologetically herself; comfortable in her perfect imperfection.  To me, that is the true essence of beauty"  ~ Steve Maraboli, Unapologetically You

Most teen-age girls aren't there yet.  They want to look like someone else.  

"This is a call to arms. A call to be gentle, to be forgiving, to be generous with yourself.  The next time you look into the mirror, try to let go of the story line that says you're too fat or too sallow, too ashy or too old, your eyes are too small or your nose is too big; just look int the mirror and see your face.  When the criticism drops away, what you will see then is just you, without judgement, and that is the first step toward transforming your experience of the world."    ~Oprah Winfrey

I disagree with the Urban Dictionary's definition of a teen-age girl.  While that is the face that many girls show to the world,  if you look beneath the surface they are just insecure little girls who are trying to be beautiful.  

I wish they knew they already are.