You are beautiful

I took this picture a few months back as I was walking along the streets in Philadelphia. I'm not sure why I took it. It just seemed the right thing to do in the moment.

And every so often, in my ordinary everyday life, this picture pops in my head.

I've seen people take self portraits with "you are beautiful" showing in the foreground. I've seen people write it on public bathroom mirrors with lipstick. I've even seen a post-it note on the walls in my house with "you are beautiful" written on it. It is a good reminder to someone like me that I am beautiful.

When I came around the corner and saw a homeless man sleeping in a sleeping bag on the street with "You are beautiful" written on the window (and no, I did not photoshop the words into the photo...), it just seemed so odd. I don't usually put "homeless-guy-sleeping-on-the-street" and "beautiful" in the same sentence. Maybe I should, I just usually don't.

But it seems to me that this photo is actually more real than I first thought. And maybe that is why I am so attracted to it. Because it is truth. It is speaking a human truth that so many of us can't or won't accept. I am beautiful when I am dressed up for the company Christmas party. I am beautiful when I 'put my face on' for the rest of the world.

But I am also beautiful when I lay on the floor, sobbing because I can't seem to find my way. I am also beautiful when it is all I can do to get out of bed in the morning because I feel like all hope is gone.

And this homeless guy in the photo is beautiful, like me (and pretty much 95% of the rest of the world), because we are human and trying to make sense of this world around us. It is so easy to forget that the people we come in contact with each day are hurting and trying to make sense of life. I have to remind myself that I am not the only one in this world who puts on a front for everyone else to see.

My hope is that I am able to see the beauty in each person around me today not because they look so good or act a certain way, but because they are another human being. And that, inherantley, makes them beautiful.