The Beautiful People

Beautiful People,

I'll admit, you caught my eye. I stared once and envied your perfectly white smile that was the force of attraction for the world around you. You've found a way to impress this world and fool them into thinking that you have a life worth wanting and, man, do they want it. I can't see your teenage years, but based on your poppy colored blush placed perfectly on your always lifted cheekbones, I would say you were a 10 out of 10 - the boys wanted you, the girls wanted to be you, and your parents definitely loved you. Thank you, beautiful people, for existing. In 10 years, you'll have stories to tell that will become the premise of a rap song or something and you'll probably end up in a low-key famous commercial starring my favorite comedian, but the jokes won't be about you because beauty protects you from the punch lines.

But the punch lines are more like puns and if we back up the story a little that rap song probably wasn't actually about you because the facade of a life you've lived couldn't be captured in a lyric because you were never authentic with anyone. Your teenage years really weren't that great, but you only cried yourself to sleep because it was important to make sure no one knew about the things you hated about yourself. And this attraction that the world has to you just leaves you feeling lonely because no one takes the time to get to know someone that's as stigmatized as you are... Marred by something you didn't choose.

So when you catch my eye, perhaps I can look past my own insecurity and lay down the shield I've created to keep inferiority away and for just a moment ask you to be something other than beautiful. If you were offered an alternative identity, what would you choose? If the people who judged you by your looks could peer into your soul, what would they see? Perhaps beauty isn't actually what you want to be defined by.

When I take a step back I realize that all of these beautiful people have insecurity just like me. The probability that their lives are awesome all the time is low and the probability that they've been through some painful things is high. Judgments based on looks are like trying to describe a book you haven't read so either start reading or stop judging. There is beauty in all of us and our flawed society only allows us to see it in others. But trust me when I say, someone has wished for your life too. "The beautiful people" ... That social class doesn't exist. There are many beautiful people in this world and you are one of them. Read it again, YOU ARE ONE OF THEM.