Short story by Hannah Glasgow
When you look into the mirror, the imperfections on your body seem to stare back at you with an intensity that overwhelms. Your fingers trace the cellulite on your legs and your eyes graze over the stretch marks on your chest. You think to yourself that if only you could tighten the skin around your waist, you would be happier. If only your lips could be a bit fuller, you would be happier. These imperfections seem to overwhelm your mind, causing you to become hopeless of ever feeling like you have worth.
But a little voice inside of your head fights back. At first, you can only make out meaningless whispers, but it eventually turns into words. It begins to tell you that the appearance of your body does not determine your beauty. Your body has no meaning other than to protect the soul that lies inside of it. It is solely a shell, a shell that has been turned into society’s measure of beauty. But when you take away this shell, you are left to face what is most important: what lies on the inside. You look into the mirror past the stretch marks and the cellulite, and you see a girl filled with a light that is indescribable to the naked eye. You see confidence that is strong enough to wipe out society’s criticism. Most importantly, you see a girl with the strength to see past society’s shallow beauty standards. One thing that sticks with you the most is that the beauty of your outer appearance only lasts a few years, while your inner beauty will last forever.
