Look Inside

   Hey, everyone.

   There are many different things asking one to look inside. I really like that poem from the movie Brave, but that's a topic for another post. Here, I'm talking about the beauty inside us.

   So, there are many things in this society that influence us. We have to look the same, act the same, be the same in order to "fit in". But it doesn't work, does it? As far as I observe, it just makes people miserable. Girls have to wear make-up, be a certain size, act certain ways. Boys have to fit in with the other boys, go with the pack mentality, even push down any emotions.
   Seeing as I'm a girl, it's not really easy for me to see it from the guys' side. But, it is also hard for me to see on the side of the girls as well. Kind of.
   I'm not a normal girl. I don't always care about how I look or act around others. It doesn't mean that I don't care what others think about me though. And what I've always wanted to avoid has started happening. I'm starting to care about all that stuff, even getting tempted to change to stay with my friends. Maybe that's ridiculous, as I'm pretty sure that they'd rather stay myself. That's what they said they like best about me. :)
   Still, comments made over the years have started getting to me in spite of that. Looks and overheard conversations as well.
   But, I did notice something. I think I mentioned some weeks ago in some posts that I've recently received a scrapbook. Looking through it again this morning, I noticed in my younger pictures, I had one of the biggest smiles. Then, even just a few months after some of the pictures, others had little to smaller smiles. I could see my younger self slowly becoming less happy. Then in the years that started going by, I saw that old smile start to return.
   Each time that smile was present, I paid attention to how I looked and who I was with. When I dressed in clothing that I liked and thought was comfortable, that smile was bigger. Most of the time, they definitely wouldn't be in some fashion or popular magazine. And the smile always be with people that I loved to be around.

   I read recently this (I love Erin Hanson's poems):

   Great to keep in mind, don't you think?

-Kayla