"I'm not gonna tell you that you're beautiful." by Hannah Brencher

(Source: "I'm not gonna tell you that you're beautiful." by Hannah Brencher)

My colleagues aren't so bad, but sadly probably me being too insensitive, there are times those boys can be so rude. They used to talk, and very loudly to add on that, about my and my husband's sex life. I don't mind sharing friendly stories, but no exchange happened. They kind of just dug in to my personal book and started yapping. The imaginations were the worst. [Guys! Seriously?! That is VERY private!]

Today, well... today I was "categorized" as, for lack of a better term, ugly. Then I read this inspiring piece from Hannah Brencher. I love how she brings out the forgotten value of the word "beauty". Here are snippets, which are IMO so beautifully and powerfully written.

"Beautiful is loud footsteps. Knowing the weight of your own footsteps, not your torso. Beautiful is knowing that you came here to make a ruckus. Beautiful is being so big & bright that it makes it impossible for people to take their eyes off you. Always they will wonder, what will that one do next?"

I’m just going to tell you that you’re kind of strange. You’re kind of quirky in the sense that no one ever fully understands the person that you are so you carry it like a secret between your smirked lips. Yes, you’ve been waiting for a moment to prove people wrong. I cannot wait to see that day.

I’m not gonna tell you that you’re beautiful. You have not needed to know you’re beauty so much as you’ve needed to see that you’re capable.

Struggles are going to make you a fighter.

You’re not going to survive them, you are going to absolutely obliterate them.

I’m not gonna tell you you’re dainty, and fragile, and a flower in the field. I’m not gonna turn you into a delicate line of poetry when you were born with so much feist & zeal & madness inside of you. How dare the world not tell you, right from the start, that you are some kind of warrior.

Darling, you’re adequate. While dancing. While speaking. While ugly crying. While spitting game. While struggling. While fighting. While laughing like a lunatic. While singing Taylor Swift at the top of your lungs. While slamming the door and walking away. In every little crook of you stands some sort of adequacy that the world would do anything to keep you unconvinced of.

And the best thing you might be able to do today is get outside, thank the skies for this day, and be the best darn broken piece of lovely you can be. Broken loveliness is the world’s most common language. We all speak it so we might as well get fluent.

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So, here's my remark, which is also a love letter.

To you Mr.,

Yes, I am a hairline close to becoming a whale. And that is fine. I mean, I will (should be) soon take care of my body. But hell no, it will never be to satisfy you and get on your standards of "sexiness". I will be healthy for my family and for the people who matter and give a damn. So yes, I am nowhere near sexy. But listen when I say...

I am brave. I have the heart. I am a dreamer. I have the guts. I am capable and smart and talented. I have enough love to learn and grow. I am fire. I have every motivation to fight. And yes I may not be "pretty", but you're wrong, I, believe it or not, am adequately beautiful.

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Edit: I forgot to mention how I came to find Hannah. A friend, Rachel, quoted a few lines from the same piece on her Facebook page. She was so kind to tag all of us darlings to her post. Long story short, I love what I read, I googled, and ping! I said hello to Hannah.